The young man in the advertisement is strapping, lean and apparently healthy. He is also topless - apart from a baby bib wrapped firmly around his neck, embroidered with the words ''I love mummy''.

To his left sit four tins of infant formula and a bouncy baby. The implication is clear - feed your son this particular brand of formula and he will grow big and strong like the half-naked man with the bib - and, perhaps, just as devoted to his mother.

White gold rush: A customer browses the baby formula shelves in a Supermarket in China. Credit:AFP

At least that's what Chinese infant formula marketers would have parents believe. Advertisements like these, which are everywhere across China, have helped fuel a surge in demand for infant formula - so much so it is akin to contraband and has been likened to a ''white gold rush'', pushing up global milk prices to dizzying heights.

But the Australian dairy industry's ability to cash in on this boom is far from a fait accompli.