(Yicai Global) June 3 -- The Chinese arm of the US owner of pet care brands Pedigree, Sheba, and Royal Canin is expecting to finish building Asia's largest pet food factory in Tianjin by 2022 amid China's booming "cat economy."

Mars Petcare's USD100 million plant in the northern city should have the capacity to produce 25 tons of pet foods per year, the Paper reported yesterday, citing Niu Yinghua, general manager of Mars Pets Nutrition China.

The Virginia-headquartered company, which entered China in 1989, has increased the speed in which it introduces new products in the Asian country to as fast as four months from the earlier 12 to 16 months, according to Niu.

Mars is optimistic about the "cat economy," said the GM. "We must firmly seize the opportunity of hot sales points of cats and the cat economy. The category of cats is extremely important to us."

The enthusiasm matches the current trends. The number of cats jumped by 10.2 percent to 48.6 million in Chinese cities and towns in 2020 from 2019, according to a report by iiMedia Research. Meanwhile, the number of dogs fell by 5.1 percent to 52.2 million.

The figures are in line with consumption. The market of cat care products surged 13.3 percent to CNY88.4 billion (USD13.8 billion) in 2020 while that of dog care items dropped 5.1 percent to CNY118 billion (USD18.5 billion), according to the same report.

Dogs are "falling out of favor" because the new generation of pet owners are dealing with pressures at work and do not have the time to walk a dog, Niu said, adding that cats can interact with the owner but they are still more independent than dogs.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi