Li Hao
RETAILERS are ignoring a 959-yuan (US$146) price cap on bottles of Moutai liquor by selling it for more than 1,000 yuan a bottle.
The Moutai distillery in Guizhou Province announced a 20-percent factory price rise from Saturday, but required retailers to sell it for no more than 959 yuan.
However, each bottle of Moutai with 53-percent alcohol content, which is the most popular, was selling for at least 1,000 yuan and 1,500 yuan at the most, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.
An unidentified salesman at a liquor store in Nanshan District, which was selling the liquor for 1,388 yuan per bottle, told the paper that it was impossible to buy a bottle of 53-percent Moutai for 959 yuan, because the wholesale price for retailers was already very high.
However, the salesman said the price hike would not affect sales while there was a strong demand for the popular liquor.
A 1968 bottle of Moutai was sold for 135,000 yuan at an auction in Nanjing on Sunday
Prices for other expensive Chinese liquors remained stable, the paper said.
In the latest development in accusations of hoarding against Sam s Club, the supermarket has refused to release details of procurement and sales accounts of Moutai which it has allegedly been hoarding to profit from the price rise.
The supermarket claimed last week the popular liquor was out of stock, but about 1,500 bottles were on the supermarket shelves when reporters visited the supermarket.
The supermarket had submitted a report to the consumer rights protection department of the city market supervision administration, saying the liquor found on the shelves had been reserved by customers.
The department was studying the case, the paper said.
It requires an investigation by the relevant government department to find out whether there is hoarding. If the purpose is to drive up the price, it is an infringement of consumers rights, said a staff member with the Shenzhen Consumer Council, who asked for anonymity.
Residents have criticized a lack of sincerity in the supermarket s explanation.
Moutai is quite strong with an alcohol content of about 53 percent. There are milder versions with as low as 35-percent alcohol content.
