China's imports of dairy products have been surging over the past few years as the increasing domestic demand has exceeded its supply, said an industry report recently released by the Dairy Industry Special Committee of the China International Import Expo Enterprise Alliance.

According to the report, China imported 3.39 million tons of dairy products in 2020, up 10.2 percent year-on-year. The compound annual growth rate of China's dairy product import volume was 12.3 percent during 2011-20.

Baby formula, wholesale milk powder, and liquid milk were the top three dairy products in terms of import volume in 2020 while the imports of whey reached $820 million, representing the highest growth of 35 percent among all dairy products.

The three largest exporters of dairy products to China were New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Australia. Of the top 10 exporters, the United States saw the greatest year-on-year increase of 58.2 percent and exported $350 million worth of dairy products to China in 2020.

Shanghai, Guangdong, and Fujian were China's top three biggest markets for imported dairy products in 2020, while Anhui province experienced the highest import growth of dairy products.

The Dairy Industry Special Committee of the CIIE Enterprise Alliance was formed in 2020 and comprises 13 members including Nestle, Fonterra, Arla Foods, and Danone.

By Zhao Luyang