In the first four months of 2020, China's imports of milk powder continued to increase, reaching $3.1 billion, up 5.5 percent year on year. LIU WENHUA/CHINA NEWS SERVICE

"The success makes us feel the huge potential of the Chinese market and strengthens our determination to dive into the Chinese market," said Meirambekov, adding that, due to the coronavirus epidemic, the Kazakh side of the Horgos cooperation center has been closed since January, a big setback for the factory's sales goal.

On Jan 29, China's General Administration of Customs issued an announcement allowing Kazakh camel dairy products to enter the Chinese market. Three Kazakh enterprises producing camel dairy products, including Eurasia Investment, are among the first batch of companies getting export licenses.

After months of arduous efforts, 7,000 cans of camel milk powder weighing 3.5 tons arrived at the comprehensive bonded area of the New District in Lanzhou, the capital city of Northwestern China's Gansu province, on June 12, and began online sales. Over the past two weeks, a total of 138 cans have been sold.

Meirambekov said that the milk powder production has not been affected by the pandemic because of its remote location. However, due to border restrictions and quarantine measures amid the state of emergency, the export of the first batch of products has been postponed from February to June.

According to Chinese importers, the import procedure takes months and is encountering many difficulties due to the pandemic. Staff had to switch to online mode to communicate with the Kazakh side and make up a logistics plan after consulting with the Kazakhstan Import and Export Association, the manufacturer's export agency, said Kang Kewei, manager of the Lanzhou New District Commercial Investment Group Comprehensive Bonded Zone International Trade.

"Previously, Kazakhstan's camel milk powder entered the Chinese market only through border trade or overseas purchase. Now imported milk power is stored at a bonded warehouse. After customers place an order, products would clear customs and be delivered to doorsteps," said Kang.

Kang said consumers in Lanzhou can enjoy their camel milk powder within 24 hours after placing an order, while consumers from other regions can receive the products within a few days.

According to the statistics of Chinese customs, China imported 1.36 million tons of milk powder valued at $8.3 billion in 2019, jumping by 20.8 percent in volume and 15.5 percent in value over the previous year.

In the first four months of 2020, China's imports of milk powder continued to increase, reaching $3.1 billion, up 5.5 percent year on year.

Kang believed that as China's dairy consumption becomes more and more diversified, camel milk powder from Kazakhstan can provide Chinese consumers with more choices.

"For the dairy industry of Kazakhstan, the Chinese market offers a huge opportunity. Chinese consumers are getting to know camel milk powder, and the market size is developing. We have not yet obtained an export license for horse milk powder to the Chinese mainland. But the company is already actively promoting horse milk powder on the Chinese market," Merambekov said.

"At the end of this month, we will ship another three tons of camel milk powder to China. We are currently building a new milk powder factory in Almaty and buying new equipment to expand production capacity. We plan to increase the annual output of camel milk powder from 60 to 200-300 tons," said Elshin.