YINCHUAN, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- In the mountains of Haiyuan County in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, northwest China, one can see an exhibition of cows and bulls from all over the world.

Established last year to produce high-quality beef, "Bull King Valley" is a major beef cattle breeding and production center.

"We have a long tradition of cattle raising here. Now we have taken another step and bought the world's best breeds to create a quality local stock," said Chen Liwen, who works with a local cattle breeding company that is part of the project.

In this zoo-like cattle farm, one can see a variety of bulls and cows such as Simmental, Angus, Montbeliarde, Holstein and Hereford, as well as Korean bull. Currently, the center has about 50 bulls and 100 cows.

"The bulls have started to produce semen, which will be used to breed calves from both imported and local cows, or sold to local farmers to help improve their stocks," Chen said.

"This one has already produced 600 milliliters of semen, which can be used to produce 40 calves," said Chen, pointing to a five-year-old, 1.1-tonne Simmental.

In the past, local bulls and cows were used to cultivate the land and slaughtered when they were old. The breed was mostly yellow cattle.

After agricultural production was fully mechanized, the animals no longer work in the fields and are raised solely for consumption.

The center covering an area of 25.35 hectares was built with a government investment of some 43 million yuan (about 6.16 million U.S. dollars). It includes sheds, breeding rooms, manure processing areas, isolation areas and feed storage.

Technical experts from Beijing have been supervising its operation and experienced veterinarians have been hired for the center.

The center is expected to have 500 cattle next year, producing 500 calves and 2 million doses of frozen semen, and every one or two doses of semen can produce a calf," said Hong Xingzhi, head of the agriculture department of Haiyuan county government.

Hong added that Haiyuan aims to become a top beef producer with a complete production chain almost in place, including a modern slaughterhouse.

The government is also providing low-interest loans to farmers to encourage them to take part in cattle trades.

Ha Peng, a 22-year-old college student majoring in chemistry, returns home during the holidays to help his mother and brother on their family cattle farm near the center.

"Earlier this year, we bought 10 cows and five calves with a low-interest loan of 200,000 yuan. If all goes well, we will have 10 cows worth 250,000 yuan in three years," Ha said.