Mengniu Dairy's Phase VI plant in Hohhot, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, shows one way the region is using its long-standing milk-source advantage to develop more advanced processing and manufacturing. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

At a dairy factory in Hohhot, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, cartons of milk move along sealed filling lines before being packed by automated machines, stacked by robotic arms, and carried away by remotely controlled vehicles.

Mengniu Dairy's Phase VI plant reflects a broader shift as Inner Mongolia continues to encourage deeper dairy processing, advanced manufacturing, and greener production during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30).

Cartons of milk are sealed and labeled with production dates and batch numbers at Mengniu Dairy's Phase VI plant in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. [Photo by Guo Yanqi/chinadaily.com.cn]

As part of Hohhot's dairy manufacturing cluster, the factory uses automated production lines and intelligent equipment to produce thousands of tons of dairy products, with workers mainly monitoring operations, managing equipment, and checking quality. A smart operations screen collects and displays data on production, safety, equipment, and energy use.

"From farming to production, testing, research, sales, and finally the consumer's table, digitalization is reflected across the whole process," said Shi Yudong, director of Mengniu Dairy's Global R&D Innovation Center.

At other plants, the dairy group is expanding deeper-processing products, including lactoferrin, demineralized whey powder, and whipping cream.

Robotic arms stack packaged milk cartons onto pallets at Mengniu Dairy's Phase VI plant in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. [Photo by Guo Yanqi/chinadaily.com.cn]

On the environmental side, the company is collecting farm waste for biogas power generation and organic fertilizer, and is exploring feed improvement and recyclable packaging, according to Cheng Caiyan, Mengniu's senior project manager for cultural tourism.

Inner Mongolia remains China's largest milk-producing region. Local authorities said the region has built a dairy industry structure linking upstream, midstream, and downstream operations, with local companies including Yili and Mengniu playing leading roles.

In 2025, the region had 1.57 million dairy cows and produced 7.59 million tonnes of milk, ranking first in China for the eighth year in a row.

By the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Inner Mongolia aims to maintain its national lead in raw milk and dairy product output, with the total value of the dairy industry chain expected to exceed 300 billion yuan ($44.4 billion), local authorities said.