Pakistan’s camel milk could be sold in China

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan may find market of its camel milk in China, says a report published by Gwadar Pro on Wednesday.

Camel milk has long been produced in Pakistan, while China started camel milk production only about two years ago, According to a research study conducted by a Chinese expert Prof. Cheng Xizhong.

He suggested that Chinese and Pakistani enterprises may conduct on-the-spot studies and cooperate in camel milk production and sales. He viewed that camel milk from Pakistan will be very popular in the Chinese market.It was noted that camel milk in Pakistan is cheaper than cow milk, and Pakistani camel milk is genuine at a fair price.

The study says : the camels in Pakistan eat grasses that grow naturally, there are no hormones and other additives in the feed, so the camel milk produced in Pakistan is organic.The amount of camel milk produced in Pakistan is much higher than that in China. The camels in Pakistan are single-humped ones, and the milk yield is higher than that of China’s Bactrian camels.

The milk yield of a single-humped camel in Pakistan can reach 3 tons in one lactation period, while that of China`s Bactrian camel is less than 1 ton.

Camels were the most important means of transportation along the ancient Silk Road. Therefore, we may say that in ancient Chinese civilization, it was the camel who trod an economic and cultural road connecting Chinese and Western civilizations.

With the increasing demand for camel milk, camels will play a new role in the Belt and Road cooperation. In 2018, the number of camels in China was 338,400, with an increase of 6.10% over the previous year. Camel breeding in China is mainly concentrated in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang.

In 2018, the number of camels in Inner Mongolia was 172,700 and that in Xinjiang was 123,600, accounting for 87.59% of the total number of camels in China. In 2019, the number of camels in China was 405,300, with an increase of 4.27% over the previous year.