Mainland milk - from Japan

ASAHI Breweries Ltd, Japan's largest beer producer, is targeting the Chinese milk products market at the source, with a factory under construction in Shandong Province, company officials said yesterday.

A milk firm, which has been building the factory, was set up in Laiyang city in April. It's the first time for a large-scale Japanese corporation to enter the Chinese milk business in the fields of both production and sales.

The company is owned 90 percent by Asahi. Business of the new firm will involve the entire process from raising cows to marketing, while products will be sold to major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Qingdao under Asahi's proprietary label, according to the officials.

Price of the Asahi milk products will be about 50 percent to 100 percent higher than average local milk, and sales in the first year will be targeted at 1 ton per day.