[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Diary giants

Inner Mongolia’s two dairy giants—Yili Industrial Group and Mengniu Dairy Corporation—have staged a remarkable rise in the global market. In 2016, Yili succeeded in ranking 8th and Mengniu ranking 11th on the Rabobank Global Dairy Top-20, marking China’s dairy power in contributing to the world’s dairy industry.

In recent weeks, Yili has attempted to seek overseas partnerships with enterprises in Asia, Europe, Oceania and North America in sectors of milk powder, yogurt, ice cream, and liquid milk. For years, Mengniu has made efforts to build strategic sponsorships with international sports associations, including an over 10-year collaboration with the National Basketball Association (NBA). Mengniu has also framed cooperative relationships with Denmark’s Arla, France’s Danone, White Wave of the United States and Asure Quality of New Zealand.