MAOTAI, or Moutai (the spelling used by the production company), a Chinese liquor, has seen its retail price increase by 40 percent over the past six months in Shenzhen, according to a Shenzhen Economic Daily report yesterday.
Reporters of the newspaper found that a bottle of Maotai containing 53 percent alcohol and produced in 2010 was selling for 1,288 yuan (US$193.39) in a supermarket in Futian District. Compared with the price six months ago, it had surged nearly 400 yuan, or 40 percent a bottle, the report said.
Separate domestic media also said the price of the prestigious alcohol brand had been increased six times in the past six months although the producer, Kweichow Moutai Co. Ltd., announced Dec. 16 that it would lift the average price of the alcohol by only 20 percent and aim to cap the price at 959 yuan a bottle with 53 percent alcohol content from Jan. 1.
Some dealers said the price cap is targeting franchises instead of dealers, the Daily report said.
Maotai, a kind of baijiu known as China s State liquor, is more often enjoyed at official banquets than in average homes, or used as gifts. It is a common adage in China that people who buy Maotai usually don t drink it, and people who drink Maotai usually don t have to pay for it.
Recent domestic media also reported that prices of some other brands of Chinese baijiu were also increasing, including Maotai s peer Wuliangye.
(SD News)
