China's per capita dairy consumption is 1/3 of the world average
Gu Jicheng, secretary-general of the China Dairy Association, said recently that China is already a major country in global dairy production, processing and consumption, but its per capita dairy consumption level remains relatively low, at about 1/2 of the Asian average and 1/3 of the world average.
Speaking at the fourth international symposium on “Dairy Cow Nutrition and Milk Quality” that day, Gu Jicheng said that China has a total dairy cow herd of more than 14 million head, and last year's dairy output was more than 38 million tons, ranking third in the world. Imported dairy products exceeded 1.8 million tons, equivalent to more than 10 million tons of raw milk. China is now truly a major country in dairy production, processing and consumption, but its per capita dairy consumption level remains relatively low.
Experts generally believe that there is still considerable room for growth in China's dairy product consumption. According to the China Agricultural Outlook Report (2015-2024) recently released by the Market Early Warning Expert Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture, it is expected that by 2024, the per capita dairy product consumption of urban and rural residents in China may reach 39.56 kg, with an average annual growth rate of 2.2%.
It is understood that in 2014, China's dairy industry shifted from a “milk shortage” to a “surplus,” raw milk prices entered a downward channel, many provinces saw “milk dumping turmoil,” large amounts of low-priced foreign milk powder poured in, and the development of the dairy industry faced major challenges. “China's dairy industry is transitioning from traditional dairy to modern dairy, but there are still some problems in the transition process, such as relatively high milk production costs, small profit margins, and weak international competitiveness.” Gu Jicheng believes that these problems are problems in development, and dairy-developed countries have all experienced them as well, so it is necessary to learn from the advanced experience of foreign dairy industries to comprehensively improve the quality of China's dairy industry.