CHINESE leaders used it to toast Richard Nixon, Kim Il-sung, Margaret Thatcher and Ho Chi Minh, as well as the founding of the People s Republic of China.
But a 20 percent price rise this year of China s national liquor, Maotai, on the back of tight supply and rising raw material costs has got Chinese consumers hot under the collar, especially as the government tries to tackle growing inflation.
Now the Maotai debate has found its way into the annual meeting of China s parliament.
As the national spirit, it s quite understandable the price adjustment for Maotai has attracted such attention, Guizhou Provincial Governor Zhao Kezhi told a news conference. Maotai is made in a remote part of the southwestern province.
The cost of raw materials for the fiery drink which is essentially composed of mountain water, sorghum and grain had gone up by 28 percent, Zhao said.
One lawmaker proposed this week the government should step in and put a stop to the price rise, according to domestic media.
Zhao did not appear to agree.
This is a company decision, he said, although added the government would, as a general principle, strengthen management of prices.
The Central Government has imposed a series of price controls, although mainly on more mundane items like vegetables and cooking oil, in an effort to control inflation, which hit an annual 4.9 percent in January.
Another important reason for the price jump was demand outstripping supply, Zhao said, with increasingly affluent Chinese consumers turning their attention to what was once a niche luxury good reserved for senior officials.
Kweichow Moutai, which makes the fiery drink, posted net profits of 4.17 billion yuan (US$634.9 million) for the first three months of 2010, up one-tenth on the year-ago period.
Bringing more capacity online in a short time would be impossible, due to environmental constraints and quality concerns, Zhao said. It is aged for a minimum of five years. (SD-Agencies)
