According to a report by the Kirin Institute of Food and Lifestyle, in 2010 China remained the largest consumer of beer for the eight consecutive year. China’s beer consumption increased 5.9% with respect to 2009, with a share of 24.5% of total world beer consumption.

In the world trade arena, though, China is still a small player. China’s imports of beer for 2010 amounted to only 0.56% of total world beer imports, way below the United States (37%), France (6.8%) and the UK (6.6%). China’s exports for the same year amounted to only 1.4% of total world beer exports, below Mexico (21%), the Netherlands(19%), Germany (13%), and the United States (3.4%) to name a few. However, because of the size of China’s economy, there is a huge potential for the world’s largest beer exporters to see China with a lot of optimism. Read more…