The International Dairy Federation (IDF) on Sunday accepted a Chinese executive into its board of directors and agreed on China hosting federation conferences in the next four years.

Lu Minfang, the global chief executive officer of China Mengniu Dairy Company Limited, is the first Chinese to join the IDF board of directors since its inception in 1903.

Speaking to Xinhua, he said as the Chinese and global dairy industries are highly integrated now, he would like to take advantage of his new status to promote better integration of their structural changes so as to "more efficiently reset the supply chain, utilize the technologies and promote global trade, in particular multilateral trade."

At the IDF general assembly in Istanbul, the federation also signed an agreement with China Dairy Industry Association for its annual summit and other meetings to be held in China by 2023.

IDF President Judith Bryans has seen "huge striving and advancement" in the Chinese dairy industry since she visited China 10 years ago.

"Since then I have seen huge innovation in terms of product development and sustainability and technology," she told Xinhua.

"We are absolutely delighted to welcome Lu into the IDF board of directors. The connection between IDF and IDF China is extremely important. I was delighted to have China's voice much stronger, which has developed over the years much stronger now within the IDF," she added.

The Chinese dairy sector should work toward technological innovation and international cooperation while maintaining products quality, Liu Meiju, vice chairwoman and secretary general of China Dairy Industry Association and vice chairwoman of IDF National Committee of China, told Xinhua.

The Brussels-based IDF, the only organization representing the entire dairy value chain at a global level, is scheduled to open its four-day 2019 World Dairy Summit in Istanbul on Monday.

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