China’s alcohol imports up 58%

China’s alcohol imports have jumped 58% from last year to $2.4 billion, according to the country’s commerce ministry.

In 2011, the country imported 500,000 kilolitres of alcohol, an increase of 30% year-on-year, vice-minister of commerce Jiang Zengwei said at a press conference about an international alcoholic beverage expo that runs from August 9-13 in south west China’s Guizhou province.

The country’s alcohol exports increased 51% to US$500 million last year, while it sold 270,000 kilolitres of alcohol to overseas markets, Jiang said.

Jiang said the country’s major alcohol producers saw their output value expand 33% from a year earlier to 670 billion yuan (US$106 billion) in 2011.

The country currently has 2.17 million registered alcohol businesses, 1.96 million of which are retailers, according to Jiang.