The agriculture and animal husbandry industries have reportedly now become key economic drivers in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The region's grain output in 2021 hit 38.41 billion kilograms, an increase of 1.76 billion kilograms on the previous year.

The performance reportedly set a record and capped off 18 consecutive years of bumper harvests, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

In the first three quarters of the year, Inner Mongolia had an estimated 77.41 million head of livestock and produced 1.6 million metric tons of meat, achieving stable meat production for 17th consecutive year.

In recent years, Inner Mongolia has focused on building up its production system for agriculture and animal husbandry, in the process making every effort to develop a national agricultural and livestock product base.

Inner Mongolia's average annual meat production has stabilized at 2.68 million tons, with milk output at 6.12 million tons. That makes Inner Mongolia the only region in the country with a milk production topping 6 million tons.

The annual output of mutton and beef is 1.13 million tons, of which beef is 662,500 tons – ranking it first in the country – while the output of fluff and forage grass both rank first in the country.

It is understood that about one fourth of all the mutton, one tenth of the beef, one fifth of the milk and two fifths of the cashmere being produced nationwide annually now come from Inner Mongolia.

To date, Inner Mongolia has established more than 15.2 million mu (1.01 million hectares) of production bases for organic food raw materials – as well as certifying and cultivating more than 9 million tons of green, organic and geographically-indicated agricultural products, ranking it among the top in the country.