Cofco, the major shareholder of dairy company Mengniu, has announced that production has begun at Mengniu’s manufacturing base in Meishan, Sichuan province. With an initial investment of Rmb300m, the new base is designed to process 800 tons of raw milk daily and will achieve an annual output of Rmb1.2bn.

Cofco also said that Hongya Modern Pasture, which will provide dairy resources to the Mengniu Meishan plant, was completed at the same time as the manufacturing base. This farm currently raises more than 5,000 cows that have been imported from Australia.

Cofco is the largest oils and food importer and exporter in China and a leading food manufacturer.