China Mengniu Dairy saw its shares soar after it announced that French food giant Danone had more than doubled its stake in the firm.
Consumers were less impressed.
"To be honest, I don't think this would make any big difference to the firm's products," Vivian Zhao, a Beijing mother of a four-year-old girl, told the South China Morning Post.
"I've stopped drinking milk since the melamine incident in 2008. I've heard about many quality problems with these big brands in recent years. But my daughter still needs [milk], so I have to pick one that I have a little bit more trust in."
Zhao avoids products made by the three largest dairy firms - Yili, Mengniu and Bright Dairy & Food - opting for smaller brands with factories in Beijing.
The mainland's dairy landscape has, however, been changing since the melamine scandal broke six years ago.