Good news! Three departments jointly release the "Guiding Opinions on Improving and Upgrading the Brewing Industry (2026–2030)"

Just now, another positive development has arrived!

On February 14th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s official website announced that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly released the “Guiding Opinions on Improving and Upgrading the Brewing Industry (2026–2030)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Guiding Opinions”).

The “Guiding Opinions” state that the brewing industry is a traditional advantageous industry and a fundamental livelihood industry in China, playing an important role in inheriting Chinese culture, developing regional economies, promoting rural revitalization, and driving employment and income growth.

By 2028, the level of integrated development in raw material planting, production and brewing, and circulation and consumption will continue to optimize, with significant enhancements in product diversity, quality recognition, and brand reputation. Enterprises will accelerate transformation and upgrading in production methods and business models, and consumption scenarios and modes will continue to expand and diversify.

Industry layout will be further optimized, with the leading role of production areas and the driving force of industrial parks strengthened. Over three traditional advantage liquor production areas with over one trillion yuan in output, more than ten characteristic brewing industrial parks with over 100 billion yuan in output will be cultivated, forming a development pattern of “hundred-billion-yuan parks, trillion-yuan clusters, and ten-trillion-yuan industries.” Progress will be made in supporting capabilities such as standard supply, quality safety, and talent cultivation.

By 2030, the levels of digital intelligence, green development, and internationalization will continue to improve, with significant increases in development quality and efficiency. The industry scale will steadily grow, with ongoing optimization of capacity layout and product structure, forming an industry system characterized by diverse product types, orderly production and circulation, rational regional distribution, and a healthy industrial ecosystem.

Specifically, the “Guiding Opinions” propose 21 key tasks across seven areas, focusing on enhancing raw material supply security, improving technological innovation, adjusting and optimizing industry structure, transforming development modes, developing new models and formats, strengthening brand culture empowerment, and improving industry support systems. Four columns are set up on the development of standardized raw material bases, technological process and equipment upgrades, cultivation of regional特色酒, and construction of standard norms.

Some key tasks include:

● Enhancing raw material supply security and enriching brewing-specific raw materials. Strengthen the cultivation and promotion of specialty brewing raw materials such as sorghum, barley, brewing grapes, and brewing barley, and support the expansion of suitable new raw materials for brewing.

● Strengthen the construction of raw material planting bases, promote specialized, large-scale, and organic development of brewing raw materials, and guide production areas to strengthen standardized raw material bases according to local conditions, improving full-process quality and safety control.

● Encourage brewing companies, equipment manufacturing firms, and research institutions to form joint innovation applications for brewing technology and equipment, tackling core components such as high-precision sensors, intelligent temperature control systems, and high-efficiency membrane separation systems. Accelerate R&D and application of advanced equipment like waste heat recovery devices, mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) evaporation systems, automated brewing robots, and high-speed integrated filling equipment.

● Support enterprises in creating advantageous flagship product series, expanding into “craft spirits” and “specialty liquors,” promoting flexible design, customized production, and personalized consumption. Develop特色果露酒, craft beer, ready-to-drink pre-mixed cocktails, and cross-border fusion foods, and support the localization of products like whiskey, brandy, and vodka.

● Encourage regions to deeply explore natural terroirs, historical culture, and product styles, clarifying development positioning and shaping core competitiveness. Relying on specific geographic areas, support resource integration and brand unification in similar production zones to break through fragmentation and homogenization, building a “large brewing industry region.”

● Promote intelligent transformation and upgrading. Support brewing enterprises in deepening AI applications to enhance the intelligence level across the entire production and operation process, including raw material procurement, R&D, production, energy management, inspection, and traceability.

● Accelerate international development. Encourage enterprises to conduct reasonable and compliant overseas investments and acquisitions, optimize global capacity layout. Support participation in international exhibitions and promotional activities, and promote more products into international duty-free shops and global chain restaurants. Support the localization of Chinese spirits like Baijiu and Huangjiu and Chinese cuisine for “wine and food” international cooperation.

● Create diverse integrated consumption scenarios. Encourage local governments and enterprises to embed alcohol consumption elements into nightlife districts,特色餐饮集聚区, large commercial complexes, and other consumption scenes. Support the development of various酒馆, creative markets, themed streets, and immersive consumption experiences.

● Strengthen brand culture empowerment and deeply explore cultural value connotations. Support qualified traditional brewing techniques to apply for intangible cultural heritage projects and establish intangible heritage workshops. Encourage enterprises to focus on history, regional features, and folk customs, extracting iconic elements for product design and brand communication, reinforcing cultural attributes and emotional resonance.

● Support the healthy development of e-commerce brands and chain operation brands, promote the inheritance and innovation of time-honored brands, and their transformation toward youthfulness and fashion. Encourage特色产区 to apply for and promote regional brands and collective trademarks, building product brand matrices based on regional branding.

In terms of organization and implementation, the “Guiding Opinions” propose making good use of national industry-finance cooperation platforms and other policy channels, supporting enterprises in technological transformation and equipment updates, guiding financial institutions, commercial banks, and industry investment funds to increase support for enterprise digital transformation, and encouraging local governments to coordinate fiscal funds and strengthen key project construction.

“A Visual Guide to the Guiding Opinions on Improving and Upgrading the Brewing Industry (2026–2030)”

(Source: China Fund Report)