Yili closes deal with DFA in setting up US dairy plant

Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, one of China's largest dairy providers, has signed a deal with U.S. milk cooperative Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) to set up a world class dairy plant in Kansas.

The joint venture has a registered capital of 100 million U.S. dollars with Yili holding 30 percent of the stake, according to a bulletin published by the Shanghai-listed firm on Thursday,

The new plant plans on producing 80,000 tonnes of dairy powder a year.

Zhang Jianqiu, CEO of Yili, said bridging American dairy farmers with Chinese consumers, the project was a win-win deal. For the Yili, it improves dairy making technology and quality management.

Yili reaped net profit of 2.3 billion yuan (374.6 million U.S. dollars) in the first half of this year, a jump of 31.93 percent year on year, ranking first among Chinese dairy producers, according to a company report in August. The dairy company's operating revenues during the period reached 27.3 billion yuan, up 13.59 percent year on year.