The whole body of the yak is a treasure, and the Tibetan people cannot do without it for food, clothing, housing, transportation, and farming. People drink yak milk, eat yak meat and burn yak dung. Its hair can be used to make clothes or tents, and its skin is a good material for leather making. It can be used not only for farming, but also as a means of transportation on the plateau, providing local herdsmen with milk, meat, wool, labor, fuel and other production and daily necessities. It is an important source of life and economy for the herdsmen on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and is also an indispensable part of the local animal husbandry economy. Important livestock species are missing. As an "all-purpose" domestic animal, the yak is an extremely valuable gene pool genetically and has social and economic significance that cannot be ignored for humans.

Chinese yaks can be divided into two types: "Transverse Alpine Type" and "Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Type". There are Jiulong Yak, Maiwa Yak, Tianzhu White Yak, Qinghai Plateau Yak, and Tibetan Alpine Yak. There are 11 local breeds including , Muli yak, Shangri-La (Zhongdian) yak, Pali yak, Sibu yak, Niangya yak, Xinjiang yak and 1 cultivated breed of Datong yak. Among them, five breeds are listed in the "Chronicle of Chinese Cattle Breeds": Jiulong Yak, Maiwa Yak, Tianzhu White Yak, Qinghai Plateau Yak, and Tibetan Alpine Yak.

Foreign yaks mainly include Nepalese yaks, Indian yaks, Tajik yaks, Russian yaks, Kyrgyz yaks, etc. In addition to China, yak-raising countries include Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, India, Nepal, Kazakhstan, Bhutan, (formerly) Sikkim, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir and other countries and regions.