（Photo/Xinhua)

The sales volume from the top 20 Chinese dairy companies has reached 235 billion yuan (about $33.4 billion), accounting for 69 percent of the total sales of dairy products in the country, said a recently released report on the quality of Chinese dairy products, Economic Daily reported Monday.

With the further acceleration of upgrading and transformation of China's dairy industry, the concentration ratio of the industry has continuously improved, according to the report, which was released during the Dairy Industry D20 Summit held in east China's Shanghai on Nov. 27.

According to the report, the output of fresh and raw milk across the country rose by 5.6 percent year-on-year from this January to October, while dairy products saw an 8.3 percent growth from the same period of the previous year.

Profits of dairy farming have also increased, with the value of milk cows reaching an annual average of 3,000 yuan per cow, suggested the report.

In 2018, the proportion of dairy farming businesses above the designated size had risen to 61.4 percent in China, with all large scale milk cow farms realizing mechanization in milking, according to Wang Jiaqi, director of a quality inspection center for dairy production under the Ministry of Agriculture.

The yield of each milk cow reached 7.4 tonnes on average last year, and more than 2 million milk cows in the country are highly productive, with each producing more than 9 tonnes of milk per year, Wang noted.

The processing equipment and technological level of China's major dairy companies reached a world-class level, and the quality of Chinese milk cow farms above designated size has reached the same level as developed countries, said Wang, adding that many products of Chinese dairy companies have won major international awards of the industry.

In recent years, some dairy companies have made great efforts to explore regional markets, and have seen great popularity among local consumers, said Yu Kangzhen, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China.

Some Chinese companies have managed to expand their business to the national market and witnessed continuous growth in output, sales volume, and industry influence, disclosed Yu, noting that some of these dairy companies have explored global markets, and established milk source bases and dairy processing bases overseas.