A groundbreaking ceremony is held for the Yili Modern Smart Health Valley Industry-City Integration Project in Hohhot, Sept 12. [Photo/Inner Mongolia Daily]

Construction work has begun on the Yili Modern Smart Health Valley Industry-City Integration Project in Hohhot, capital of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, following a groundbreaking ceremony held on Sept 12, according to local media reports.

The project is committed to creating a world-class high-quality development complex for the dairy industry and promoting the overall upgrading of the industry.

Relying on its comprehensive industrial facilities and urban functions, the project will strive to create an annual GDP contribution of 198.2 billion ($30.74 billion) by 2035, and its annual fiscal revenue is expected to reach 19.6 billion. It will also help some 350,000 people to find employment.

As the core component of the project, the National Dairy Technology Innovation Center will gather domestic and foreign dairy innovation resources and strive to meet national strategic needs and industrial issues, with the goal of building a globally-influential dairy technology innovation hub.

The National Dairy Technology Innovation Center will set up five research centers and three service platforms in order to undertake scientific research and provide services.

Meanwhile, the separate Yili Cheese Global Model Base Project covers a total area of 425 mu (28.3 hectares), has a total investment of 2 billion yuan and will have an annual output value of 5 billion yuan after being put into operation.

It will include 23 production lines, mainly producing children's cheese, children's cheese sticks and other products.