Camel industry development conference opens in Hami, Xinjiang

A conference on the high-quality development of the camel industry opened on Tuesday in Yiwu county of Hami, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Over two days, animal husbandry experts, industry representatives, and herders discussed camel industry policies, breeding technologies, milk processing, industry standardization, branding, and market expansion.

Located in the eastern Tianshan Mountains, Hami is a key breeding area for Bactrian camels in China. The area has developed the camel industry as a pillar for rural vitalization, focusing on improving breeds, optimizing the industry layout, and building industrial consortiums, while helping raise herder incomes.

Zhao Junli, president of Hami's camel industry development association, said the industry has transformed over the past decade from traditional, scattered nomadic herding into a standardized, full-chain development model.

Hami now has more than 40,000 Bactrian camels. Its 15 farms and cooperatives, each holding more than 100 camels, form a contiguous milk source base. The city also has eight camel milk collection stations and four camel milk processing enterprises. In 2025, they produced nearly 6,000 metric tons of milk from camels and other animals.

Zhao said major enterprises have integrated some 4,000 farming and herding households into the industrial chain.