The Chinese drank more than 30 million tons of beer last year
and consumption per capita reached 24.2 liters, according to the
country's alcoholic drinks industry association.
China had been the world's largest producer and consumer of beer
for four consecutive years, said Wang Yancai, secretary of the
association, during the China International Wine Industry Expo 2006
in Beijing Friday.
As living standards of ordinary Chinese continued to rise, beer
consumption had soared.
China had more than two million people working in breweries,
with the production value exceeding 400 billion yuan (US$50.3
billion) in 2005.
(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2006)
