North China county litter ensures better living quality for cats

HOHHOT, July 21 (Xinhua) -- In recent years, raising a cat has become a choice for many people worldwide. There is a growing preference for these kitties to enjoy a healthy living environment. Firms in a north China county have been making continuous progress in the market niche of cat litter products, to meet customers' demand.

In a laboratory, Wang Xiaoli and his colleagues have been developing low-dust mineral and lightweight products, utilizing bentonite. In the workshop, by inputting the mineral ore into a green production line, and through a series of automatic manufacturing processes, a bunch of cat litter, as small as millet, can be produced.

These scenes offer a glimpse of the research and production of Chifeng Menghong New Materials Co., Ltd., a cat litter producer based in Ningcheng County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

"We introduced new technology and functional materials to increase bentonite litter's clumping and odor absorption function so that cats can live healthily in a low-dust environment," said Wang, a technician at the company.

The county has an annual cat litter production output of 1.5 million tonnes with some 1,100 people engaged in the industry in 2023, with an output value of 900 million yuan (about 126 million U.S. dollars) and a tax revenue of 70 million yuan, according to local authorities.

Over the past two decades, Ningcheng has seen rapid and innovative development in the cat litter industry.

Zhang Yongsheng, general manager of Ningcheng County Chongai Pet Products Co., Ltd. said it used to make chemical fertilizer, while a Japanese client reached out to the former factory manager in 2002, looking to utilize locally-sourced bentonite for cat litter production. The experiment proved successful, leading to the establishment of the county's first cat litter production line.

"It is a good business as bentonite here is of high quality. It forms solid clumps and is easy for scooping and cleaning," said Zhang. "Since then we have made efforts to research and develop more cat litter products."

Now cat litter with fruit fragrance fills the air in his lab, and many products have been exported to Japan, the Republic of Korea and other countries and regions.

There are 32 cat litter companies in the county at present. These companies are active in research and have enlarged sales channels, improved manufacturing quality, and complied with international standards, among others.

"These companies are able to produce tailor-made cat litter of different varieties and odors," said Zhang Haixuan, head of Ningcheng County. "Bentonite products including cat litter manufactured in the county have been exported to 106 countries such as Finland, Russia and Malaysia."

Dong Wenjun, a professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, said: "Cat litter produced in Ningcheng has been transforming to products with higher added value, with features such as lighter weight, water resolution and diverse scents."

According to an industry report, the urban pet (dogs and cats) consumption market in China grew to 279.3 billion yuan in 2023, up 3.2 percent year-on-year. The cat market scale and the number of pet cats saw 6 percent and 6.8 percent growth, respectively.

Zhang Yongsheng said more and more young people have become pet owners, and they pay more attention to their pets' health and comfort.

"We are trying to provide our customers greener and healthier products and ensure their cats have a better life quality," he said.