The bad news is that, for now at least, the Chinese love their homegrown liquor – a fiery grain spirit called baijiu (which literally translates 'white spirit’ and to a foreigner can taste pretty much the same) – a great deal more than fancy foreign brands like Black Label or Smirnoff.
China imported just 4m cases of foreign spirits in 2009 – equating to a near-negligible 1.4pc of the global trade, according to the drinks industry’s research consultancy International Wine & Spirits Record (IWSR).
As so often with a China “growth story” it is the potential size of the prize that keeps foreign businesses interested, which perhaps explains why Jeff Chau, general manager of Diageo China, retains a glass-half-full attitude despite the still-modest sales.
“It is true that international branded spirits are still only 1pc of the total alcohol consumed in China,” he said, “but that’s why we see such massive potential here. Ninety-nine per cent of Chinese are still drinking baijiu or beer and we hope to change that.”![]()
