Zhang Jianqiu, executive president of China's dairy giant Yili Group, delivers a speech at the expo's opening ceremony. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Hohhot, the capital city of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, played host to the 14th Inner Mongolia Dairy Industry Expo and Summit Forum on March 26-28.

The Inner Mongolia Dairy Industry Expo is an annual industry event and the first professional conference named after the "Dairy Industry Expo" in China. It has been held for 14 years and widely praised by industry professionals.

This year's expo closely followed the themes of revitalizing the dairy industry in the country and autonomous region and discussed how to enhance the positioning and development of the dairy industry in the new era.

Meanwhile, the summit forum invited 13 well-known domestic experts and scholars from the dairy industry to analyze the dairy market forecast, technological innovation, breeding management, disease prevention and other aspects in 2021.

Attendees pay a visit to Yili Group's exhibition area at the expo. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In the new era, China's dairy industry needs to persist with innovative development and enhance international competitiveness and influence, according to Zhang Jianqiu, executive president of China's dairy giant Yili Group, at the expo's opening ceremony.

As one of the sponsors of the expo, Yili Group attaches great importance to innovation and development. 

While ensuring the safety of dairy products, it also conducts in-depth research on consumer preferences and provides consumers with many innovative products.

As of the end of 2019, Yili's total number of global patent applications and total invention applications ranked third among the top 10 global dairy enterprises. The company has become an innovative pioneer leading the revitalization of the dairy industry.

In the first three quarters of 2020, Yili achieved total operating income of 73.77 billion yuan ($11.07 billion) and net profit of 6.04 billion yuan, an increase of 7.42 percent and 7 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Zhang Jianqiu (first from left), introduces Yili's products to expo attendees. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]