A look through time: Transformation of China’s dairy sector

In 1949, there were only 120,000 dairy cattle in China, with an annual milk production of 192,000 tonnes, an average yield of just above 3 tonnes per cow. At that time the per capita consumption of dairy products in the country was 0,4 kilogrammes. 60 years later, in 2019, the total number of dairy cattle in China was around 6 million. Milk production has surpassed 32 million tonnes and the per capita consumption of dairy products has stunningly increased to over 30 kg. Even though this huge de