Life is pretty good for Cao Youtang.

 

Every morning at six, the 53-year-old dairy farmer and his wife from Tumotezuo County of Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, get up to feed their 55 cows.

 

In the afternoon, the cows are taken to a milking facility about a kilometer away, run by Yili, the cream of China's dairy industry.

 

By only selling milk, the family can generate an annual income of 150,000 yuan ($19,832).

 

Early this year Cao traded 10 cows to Yili for an apartment in the city. His family is just one of many cow-breeders in Hohhot, a city known as China's dairy capital.

 

Boasting about 1 million cows, the city processed about 1.82 million tons of milk last year.

 

At least half of the milk in the country comes from one of two dairy producers: Yili and Mengniu Dairy Group.

 

Last year the two companies raked in about 32.6 billion yuan. Their fresh milk sales account for more than 55.4 percent of the domestic market share.

 

"Mengniu products have successfully entered the Hong Kong market," Han Zhiran, Party secretary of Hohhot, said.

 

Yili milk will be sold as the one of choice during the 2008 Beijing Games. It is one of the sponsors of the Games.

 

Hohhot's climate and plentiful supply of grass makes it a prime area for dairy produce.

 

"Milk produced here is especially thick and sweet," Han said.

 

The dairy industry accounts for about 40 percent of the income of local farmers.

 

In Tumotezuo County in particular, where more than 400,000 cows are raised, up to 90 percent of the income of farmers come from dairy produce.

 

From a modest beginning, Yili has generated nearly 23 billion yuan in the past decade, benefiting more than 5 million farmers across Inner Mongolia.

 

China is ranked the third largest dairy products producer in the world, second only to the United States and India.

 

During the international dairy festival held in the city last week, Han said Hohhot could one day become the world's dairy capital.

 

"We are confident that the two enterprises will become century-old brands and will both be among the world's leading 20 bands in the near future," he said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2007)