$3 mln into dairy industry: Alibaba's Jack Ma eyes on cow raising  

馬云投資伊利牧場開養奶牛 各路資本殺入國內牧場

(ECNS) – Investors are eying China's dairy industry, including e-commerce giant Alibaba's Jack Ma.

According to Yili Group, one of China's biggest dairy companies, Yunfeng Capital, which was co-founded by Jack Ma, and the CITIC Industrial Fund have agreed to put up no less than 2 billion yuan (about $320 million) in cash for 60 percent of the stakes in Yili's cow raising subsidiary.

Inner Mongolian-based Yili said the cooperation will strengthen its milk supply, improve its prairies, and provide cash for future development.

Separately, Huaxia Dairy Farms in Hebei province has also seen huge amounts of capital pumping in recently.

On Wednesday, a consortium led by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and Olympus Capital announced a total investment of $106 million to help improve Huaxia's farming and retailing.

Huaxia supplies milk for Costa Coffee China. It also owns a brand called Wondermilk.

Chanson Capital executive director Shen Meng said capital flooding into China's milk industry is a sign that investors are predicting explosive development, and that they want to take a favorable position by investing in raw milk.