Interview with Rebrau Chairman Qiao Ruoang and President Li Zhigang: China's Beer Consumption Trends Lead the Global Market

21st Century Business Herald Reporter Xiao Xia, Chengdu Report

“You see these 1L products, which are actually unavailable in other markets. This is an innovation to provide Chinese beer consumers with a high-end experience,” said João Abecasis, Chairman of Chongqing Beer.

On March 10, João Abecasis, Chairman of Chongqing Beer, and President Li Zhigang held a small discussion with media outlets including 21st Century Business Herald, sharing their performance over the past year, existing strategies, and future plans.

That day, Chongqing Beer officially disclosed its 2025 annual report: total revenue of 14.722 billion yuan, net profit attributable to parent of 1.231 billion yuan, sales volume of 2.9952 million hectoliters, with revenue, profit, and sales all showing positive growth.

Despite the Chinese beer industry’s sales declining by about 1% last year, Chongqing Beer delivered better-than-industry performance.

In recent two to three years, Chinese beer consumption has accelerated shifting toward non-draft channels (household, instant retail). To adapt, Chongqing Beer has introduced many new approaches in product flavor, packaging, and channels. Last year, it launched over 30 new products, with a focus on large 1L capacity products.

This strategy has increased market share. Earlier this year, at the Carlsberg Group’s 2025 performance briefing, the strong performance of 1L products under Chongqing Beer’s brands in China was highly praised, with several brands’ canned products achieving double-digit growth last year.

(João Abecasis and Li Zhigang of Chongqing Beer)

João Abecasis told 21st Century Business Herald that he noticed the rise of shared consumption scenarios in China a few years ago. Consumers not only pursue cost-effectiveness but also seek high-end experiences. The 1L packaging can meet both needs simultaneously.

“The trend of beer consumption in China is actually ahead of other markets. On one hand, consumer demand is more diverse; on the other hand, the fierce competition in the Chinese beer market fosters many new trends, which in turn provide references for other global markets,” João Abecasis said.

To meet the market demand for 1L products, Chongqing Dazhu Lin Brewery’s 1L can flexible production line officially started operation on March 9. Li Zhigang revealed that a 1L can production line is also under construction in Xinjiang.

Building on increased capacity, Chongqing Beer plans to continue launching new products in 2026, including several 1L innovations, aiming to attract young consumers with new flavors and to capitalize on the rising non-draft channels. During this year’s Spring Festival, U.S. Beer’s 8.88L super-large capacity product attracted attention.

While launching new products, they are also expanding their market.

Since 2017, Carlsberg has increased its market share in China to over 8% through the “Big City Plan.” João Abecasis confirmed that the “Big City Plan” will continue to be steadily promoted this year, and he revealed to 21st Century Business Herald that “it has now expanded to 105 cities.”

Through product and channel efforts, Chongqing Beer outperformed the industry last year.

By 2025, the production of beer from large-scale enterprises in China was 35.36 million hectoliters, down 1.1% year-on-year. Based on sales volume, Chongqing Beer’s market share in China slightly increased last year.

In the Chinese beer market, Chongqing Beer’s ton-price has long been leading. Last year, its gross profit margin increased by another 2.32 percentage points to 52%. Li Zhigang pointed out that this was due to product structure optimization and raw material cost reductions.

Looking at brands, the domestic brands (Ursu, Chongqing, Fenghuaxueyue, etc.), which are main revenue drivers, saw gross profit margin increase by over 3.37 percentage points last year, surpassing 50%, significantly narrowing the gap with international brands like Carlsberg and Lübbe (53.82%).

Moreover, this was achieved despite a slight decline in sales volume of domestic brands last year. This indicates that the intensive launch of innovative products like 1L packaging further boosted profitability.

Li Zhigang introduced that among the over 30 new products launched last year, more than ten were 1L packages, including the nationally popular Ursu Beer, as well as Chongqing, Shancheng, Dali, Fenghuaxueyue, and Lübbe, both domestic and international brands.

New packaging and flavors have captured growth opportunities. Li Zhigang revealed that “the 1L can production line in Anhui was at full capacity last year.”

Based on optimistic prospects for the category, Chongqing Beer has also increased investment in 1L can production lines in Chongqing and Xinjiang.

On March 9, Chongqing Dazhu Lin Brewery’s 1L can flexible production line was officially put into operation, becoming Chongqing Beer’s second such line nationwide.

A 21st Century Business Herald reporter onsite learned that this production line has a designed capacity of 10,000 cans per hour, capable of producing various sizes including 1L, 0.75L, and 0.5L, covering over 30 products, including Chongqing, Shancheng, and other brands under Carlsberg like Lübbe and Ursu. It will supply not only Chongqing but also the entire country.

“This line gives us more confidence to expand our business and provides greater flexibility for production, allowing us to produce more SKUs,” said Torsten Steenholt, Vice President of Supply Chain at Carlsberg, on the day of commissioning.

Once the Xinjiang 1L can flexible production line is completed, Chongqing Beer will have a comprehensive layout of 1L lines across East China, Southwest, and Northwest China. Chongqing Beer stated that these new lines will share production demands and help reduce cross-regional logistics costs to some extent.

In recent years, the Chinese beer market has shown clear segmentation: traditional draft channels and products are generally weak, while new categories like tea beer, craft beer, and instant retail channels continue to grow.

To adapt, major breweries are partnering with instant retail platforms and launching new flavors intensively. However, performance shows that not every brewery has seized the structural opportunities in the current market.

Chongqing Beer adopts a full-category coverage approach, aiming to capture diverse consumer needs.

By 2025, Chongqing Beer’s brands launched over 30 new products, including craft beers, tea beers, and other innovative flavors, as well as fruit-flavored sodas and energy drinks outside the core beer category.

Previously, 21st Century Business Herald reported that in key markets like Chongqing and Xinjiang, new beverage products such as Tianshan Fresh Fruit Manor and Electric Hold have entered hotpot and barbecue scenes, leveraging their channel advantages.

The reason for intensive innovation is to cater to young consumers’ willingness to try new things.

Li Zhigang explained that Chongqing Beer employs a “racehorse mechanism,” where new products are dynamically adjusted based on market feedback. “The market response has been very good so far. Many canned brands have achieved double-digit growth because they align with the growth of non-draft channels,” he said.

Looking ahead to 2026, Chongqing Beer will continue its product innovation strategy.

Since the beginning of the year, brands like Ursu, Chongqing, Fenghuaxueyue, JingA, Dali, and Lübbe have launched new products, including several 1L packages.

Additionally, Ursu Beer released an 8.88L limited edition during the Spring Festival, which caused a buzz on social media due to its super-large capacity.

“We wanted to match Ursu’s brand tone with large-capacity packaging, but unexpectedly, it sold out quickly and was in short supply,” Li Zhigang said.

He believes that continuous innovation in beer brands is essential to give products multiple values.

“If you don’t build a brand, products become homogeneous and only compete on price. But in reality, consumers want not only better quality but also products that provide emotional value,” Li Zhigang said.

Aligning with global trends, Carlsberg is also introducing non-beer new categories into the Chinese market. 21st Century Business Herald learned that this year, Ursu launched a honey beverage called “Kvas,” and Lübbe introduced two “jelly wines.”

João Abecasis pointed out that Carlsberg has observed that global beer consumption is becoming increasingly diverse. Consumers no longer seek only one type of beer in a single scenario but want multiple different products simultaneously, which requires breweries to offer a more comprehensive product portfolio.

“Our quick involvement in beer consumption trend innovation is thanks to our continuous investment in the Chinese market,” João Abecasis said.