The World Bank has granted a 100-million U.S. dollar loan to develop dairy industry in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, said the provincial animal husbandry bureau.

Wang Desheng, deputy director of the local animal husbandry bureau, said on Thursday that most of the fund would be spent on building production facilities, and the remainder on exploring the genetic potential of dairy cattle, and improving dairy systems and the surrounding environment.

Wang noted the loans have an interest rate of 7.2 percent and repayment terms from six to eight years.

The province also dedicated a 5.5-million U.S. dollar grant from the Italian government to developing its animal husbandry industry.

"With the international assistance, we will open seven farms with 1,000 dairy cows each and 125 farms each with a breeding capacity of 500 before the year 2011," said Wang. "The initiative will help upgrade the technology and management of our dairy industry, and improve the lives of herders."

Heilongjiang, the country's largest dairy production base in China's northernmost, boasts around 1.6 million cattle with an annual milk production of 4.4 million tons.

Source: Xinhua