Five Chinese drinks companies make Fortune China 500 list

Five Chinese alcoholic beverage companies made onto this year’s Fortune China 500 list, three being baijiu distilleries and the other two brewers.

Leading the pack is Kweichow Moutai, the world’s most valuable distillery. The Guizhou-based baijiu company landed in 130th place, up 36 places from last year with total revenue of over RMB 61 billion (US$9.1 billion).

Sichuan-based Wuliangye rose eight places from last year’s ranking to No. 247 this year with a total revenue of RMB 30.18 billion (US$4.5 billion).

China Resources Beer is the highest ranking Chinese beer company that made onto the list at No. 252, which however, represents a slide of 30 spots. Its total revenue stood at RMB 29.7 billion (US$4.45 billion). The company was recently reported to have been in talks to buy Heineken’s China business in order to grow its own premium beer business.

Tsingtao Beer is the second brewer on the list. The company’s total revenue amounted to RMB 26.2 billion (US$3.9 billion) but its overall ranking also dipped from last year’s 245th place to 279th this year. Last year, China’s investment company Foshan spent US$844 million to buy out Japan’s Asahi Group Holding’s shares in Tsingtao.

Jiangsu Yanghe, a baijiu distillery based in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, came in at No.367, dropping 19 spots. Earlier this year the distillery purchased 12.5% stake in Chile’s Viña San Pedro for US$66 million, making a grand entry into wine business.

This year, all companies on the list have a minimum revenue of RMB 13.86 billion (US$2 billion). Overall the 500 companies on the list generated more than US$5.9 trillion in revenue, an increase of 18.2%.