• China has acted to clean up its raw milk industry to ensure safety at the source of the industrial chain, but some experts say the nation is implementing a very low standard.
• A total of 6,890 raw milk stations have been closed during a three-year campaign that began in 2008.
• 13,503 raw milk stations and 7,980 raw milk transportation vehicles throughout the country are subject to the monitoring of local authorities.
• All the stations are now either run by dairy companies, cow farms, or cooperatives established by dairy farmers.
• However, the country's raw milk standards of protein content and colony-forming unit (CFU) is much lower than those from the United States and the European Union.
•  International standards for the dairy industry also require checks of antibiotics and nitrites in raw milk, but China does not even make such requirements.
• China's milk processing technologies are among the world's best, but the problem lies in the low standard of the raw milk, said Guo Benheng, President of Bright Dairy & Food, adding that the priority now should be focused on the improvement of raw milk quality.
• Dairy output reached 21.59 million metric tonnes last year, up 48 percent compared to 2006; meanwhile, per capita spending on dairy products by residents in 36 large and medium-sized cities reached 277 yuan (US$43), up 40 percent compared to 2006.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-07/04/content_12832447.htm