The Helingeer Dairy Development Zone in Hohhot city plans to implement 51 key projects this year with a total investment of 12.98 billion yuan ($1.81 billion), including an annual planned investment of 3.91 billion yuan.

In 2024, the zone's 44 large-scale enterprises achieved an industrial output value of 20.61 billion yuan, marking an 11.8 percent year-on-year increase, while fixed asset investment reached 1.97 billion yuan, up 62 percent year-on-year.

So far this year, the zone has signed 21 new projects with a combined investment of 4.16 billion yuan. Among them are three major projects each exceeding 500 million yuan: a 1 billion yuan advanced dairy processing project, a 1 billion yuan Chinese and Mongolian Traditional Medicine Synthetic Biology and Smart Manufacturing Park, and a 600 million yuan Kinghey Central Kitchen Agricultural and Livestock Products Processing Park.

The new yogurt processing project of Inner Mongolia Demama Dairy Co, with a total investment of 10 million yuan, broke ground in June and was put into operation within just two months. The plant is equipped with multiple production lines for yogurt, specialty dairy products, and milk-based pastries, alongside dedicated laboratories and R&D facilities. With a daily processing capacity of 15 metric tons of raw milk and an annual output of 5,000 tons, the project is expected to generate 20 million yuan in output value this year.

"Innovation in intelligent transformation is breathing new life into traditional processes," said Bai Xue, workshop director at Inner Mongolia Caoyuan Hongniu Biotechnology Co. By introducing industrial robots, the company has achieved standardized production and improved product consistency, with its workshop currently producing 3 tons of cheese per day and aiming to reach 10 tons.