China: China’s beer industry cashes in on international sports events

At midnight, the Benediktiner Beer Garden in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao is buzzing with activity, with dozens of cheerful customers clinking glasses and sipping beer while watching the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

This is now a typical scene in many of the beerhouses in this popular summer resort city, where a major beer festival coincides with the Paris Olympics.

After Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024, the Paris Olympics will drive beer consumption in China even further. This summer, hundreds of millions of Chinese viewers are watching the world's biggest sporting event at night, with many of them grabbing a beer to cheer on their favorite athletes, Xinhua reported on August 7.

"Watching the Olympics with friends while drinking in a cheerful atmosphere makes us feel very relaxed," said Qu Jianfei, a customer at the Benediktiner Beer Garden, which is located at the main venue of the beer festival in Qingdao.

"With the opening of the Paris Olympics, everyone is attracted to the games," said Sun Zhanchang, owner of the beerhouse and a sports fan himself.

"We have started promotional sales centered around the Olympics. Our customers here may not only drink original German beer, but also watch the games, play billiards and cheer together," Sun said.

Inaugurated in 1991, the Qingdao beer festival has evolved to become one of the most famous in the world, with this year's event boasting over 2,200 beers, crafted both locally and from around the globe. Qingdao is home to the Tsingtao Brewery, the base of a time-honored beer brand in China.

From July 19 to Aug. 11, the beer festival is also offering a variety of sporting events, such as street dance, basketball, children's roller hockey and even mobile e-sports, to attract tourists during the peak summer travel season.

One high-profile event was the three-day Teqball World Series Qingdao, held at the beer festival's main venue and featuring players from countries including France, Thailand, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Iraq.

French player Julien Grondin said the Chinese crowd was very enthusiastic and he enjoyed the atmosphere on his first visit to the Qingdao beer festival. He said he drank several glasses of beer as soon as the competition was over.

Fang Jun, the Chinese organizer of the Teqball World Series Qingdao, said that hosting the event could get more people to learn about the new sport, which is a combination of soccer and table tennis, as well as help attract more Chinese and foreign athletes and tourists to taste Chinese beer and build stronger domestic beer brands.

Many Chinese consider drinking beer an essential part of their summer lifestyle, especially in parts of the country where the heat is still extreme.

This summer, major international sports events, such as the Paris Olympics and the Euro 2024, have given a strong boost to beer festivals in a number of cities across the country, including Harbin, Shijiazhuang, Jinan and Chongqing.

Major sporting events have increased the number of visitors to pubs in Qingdao, according to Ma Weidi, manager of the flagship bar of the Tsingtao 1903 beerhouse chain in Qingdao.

"Recently, we have been running promotions for sporting events," Ma said. "We open at 5 p.m. and often have over 200 customers within two hours. More customers have to queue at the gate and wait for tables to become available."

With scorching temperatures in many parts of China, coupled with the catalyst of the Olympics and numerous festivals, beer sales are expected to reverse a dip in the first half of this year, according to a research report from Huatai Securities.

Since Euro 2024, China's beer consumption has continued to rise as more people flock to bars and pubs to watch the games, while the demand for late-night snacks has also led to a significant increase in beer orders, it said.

Domestic and foreign beer firms have also sponsored various sports events to promote their products among young people, who are increasingly interested in beer.

More young people are becoming increasingly concerned about the environment and experience of beer consumption, which is fueling the growth of pubs and music bars. "At the bars, we can relax by watching games or listening to bands. The great atmosphere here makes drinking beer more enjoyable," said Lin Zhao, a frequent visitor to the bars in Qingdao.

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