Shaanxi becomes China's largest dairy goat base

A lorry waits for fresh milk in a dairy enterprise in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Feb. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)

XI'AN, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's Shaanxi Province has developed into the largest dairy goat base in China, according to a forum on the industry's development Friday.

Shaanxi had 2.4 million dairy goats in 2019, and together they produced about 700,000 tonnes of goat milk that year, accounting for 40 percent and 55 percent of the country's total, respectively.

The provincial output of goat dairy products in 2019 was around 82,000 tonnes, accounting for more than 80 percent of the national market share, while Shaanxi's infant formula goat milk powder took up over 95 percent of the national total, according to Ren Buxue, deputy director of the provincial department of agriculture and rural affairs.

In the next five years, Shaanxi will put more effort into disease resistance breeding to promote the high-quality development of the dairy goat industry chain, according to Chen Weisheng, director of the China Animal Disease Control Center.