The country’s dairy output will near 54 million tonnes in 2031, said Yang Zhenni with the Institute of Food and Nutrition Development under the ministry.

Consumption demand for dairy products has grown at an average rate of 3.6 percent over the past 10 years. Household dairy consumption jumped in the past two years, with per capita consumption rising 11.8 percent year on year to 42.3 kg in 2021.

Yang attributed the demand expansion to people’s mounting attention to health and nutrition, noting that the COVID-19 epidemic has influenced consumers’ preferences and accelerated the consumption of low-temperature fresh milk in the Chinese market.

As cold-chain facilities improved and people’s views changed, consumption of dry dairy products, such as cheese and cream, is on the rise, while that of pasteurized milk also saw a prominent increase among liquid milk products, Yang added.

China produced 7.68 million tonnes of milk in the first quarter of this year, up 8.3 percent year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Enditem