China's dairy industry has been hitting the headlines since last September - but for all the wrong reasons. News of the toxic milk scandal, in which powdered milk was laced with the lethal industrial chemical melamine, dominated the world's press after it emerged that six babies died and more than 300,000 fell ill after drinking it. Yet despite the convictions in January of cattle farmer Zhang Yujun and milk trader Geng Jinping - both of whom were sentenced to death - and former Sanlu dairy boss Tian Wenhua for their part in the scandal, China is struggling to rebuild confidence in the safety of its dairy products. According to a report last month from China's General Administration of Customs, exports of dairy products in 2008 dropped by 10.4 per cent year-on-year to 121,000 tonnes.
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