Yili Group reports an operating income of 56.51 billion yuan in the first half of 2021. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co, one of China's dairy industry giants based in Hohhot, the capital city of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, reported an operating income of 56.51 billion yuan ($8.74 billion) in the first six months of 2021, which is a year-on-year growth of 18.89 percent, according to the company's performance report for the first half of 2021.

The company's net profit achieved 5.32 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.48 percent, ranking Yili first in the Asian dairy industry for eight consecutive years.

Analysts pointed out that Yili's performance, despite the negative global economic impact of COVID-19, reflects China's rapid economic recovery and structural upgrading of its market demand. They said it was also a manifestation of Yili's long-term stable development due to its competitive advantages and anti-risk capabilities. 

Yili's major dairy products record a year-on-year growth of 20.7 percent in sales volume in the first half of 2021. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

During the first half of the year, the sales revenue of key products such as Anmuxi, Jindian and Changqing increased by 20.7 percent year on year, showing a rapid growth momentum. 

Kantar research data shows that as of June 2021, the company's market penetration rate of normal temperature liquid dairy products was 85.7 percent. The company's e-commerce business revenue increased 21.8 percent over the same period last year.

In addition, Yili was selected as the representative corporate deep dive for the agriculture and food sector, giving credit to its carbon reduction practices, according to the Corporate Net Zero Pathway that was released by the United Nations Global Compact on July 27.

Yili has been setting up a comprehensive organizational structure for decarbonization initiatives since 2010, and is the first dairy company in China to implement an independent carbon inventory. 

The sales volume of new products accounted for 15.6 percent of the company's total sales volume. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]