Sales of Chinese beer and Georgian wine increase under BRI

Foreign journalists visit the Qingdao Beer Meseum. (Photo/Zhao Shuyan)

Foreign journalists of the second media workshop for the Belt and Road News Network (BRNN) were impressed by the fact that the Belt and Road Initiative has dramatically boosted sales of both Chinese beer and Georgian wine, during their visit to a beer museum in Qingdao, a coastal city of China on Oct. 27.

In 2018, the sales volume of Tsingtao Beer, a Qingdao local brand, increased by nearly three times in markets along the Belt and Road compared with 2013, accounting for about half of the company's overseas sales.

In addition to Chinese beer, Georgian wine has also benefited from the initiative. According to Mikheil Aydinov, Editor-in-Chief of Georgia's Multinational Georgia, thanks to the free trade agreement between the Chinese and Georgian government, exports of Georgian wine to China have significantly increased.

"It only took China two or three years to become Georgia's largest wine trading partner after Russia, which is indeed phenomenal," said Mikheil, adding, "Besides the food industry, Georgia and China have a lot of cooperation in other fields."

China is trying to open up trade channels, which will facilitate Georgia's economic development. "Some western media hold that the Belt and Road only benefits China, but I don't agree with that. Of course, China has its own interests, but every country that works with China will also benefit. So I am in favor of maximum openness and cooperation with China," Mikheil added.