The U.S. Dairy Export Council Monday announced a partnership with a university in China to grow U.S. exports in China. The Council has signed a memorandum of understanding with Jiangnan University to establish the U.S.-China Dairy Innovation Center at the university. Tom Vilsack, U.S. Dairy Export Federation President and CEO says the partnership is a "game-changing agreement" that will lead to opportunities that benefit both China and the United States. The partnership aims to encourage the development of China-friendly product formulations that incorporate U.S. dairy products and provide research with U.S. dairy products at the university. Vilsack says China is a “top priority market” for the U.S. dairy industry and calls the university one of the best food science schools in China. The partnership is part of the Next Five Percent initiative, an industry-wide effort launched in 2017 to increase annual U.S. dairy exports from the equivalent of about 15 percent of U.S. milk solids to 20 percent.