China: The leading brewer Kingway plans to triple its sales until 2008

China’s Kingway Brewery affirmed it hoped to triple its sales in China by 2008, in a bid to become a national player in China's fragmented and cutthroat beer sector, Reuters communicated on August 25.

The brewery aims to push sales up to 1.2 million tonnes by 2008 from 400,000 tonnes at the end of last year, the newspaper reported. Kingway ranks number 12 in China's beer market but has a leading position in the affluent southern province of Guangdong.

Ye Xuquan Kingway Chairman said; "We have positioned ourselves as a national beer maker. Therefore, the first thing Kingway should do is to increase our sales in various cities outside Shenzhen."

Kingway’s shares dropt nearly 8 percent on Wednesday after the company said it had decided not to continue talks with Heineken NV possibly increasing its stake in the Chinese beer maker.

Heineken's joint venture with Singapore's Asia-Pacific Breweries Ltd. Kingway's parent have been in talks for months about possibly lifting its stake in the Chinese firm from the current 21.44 %. The Chinese brewer said it would not hold talks with other foreign breweries until the end of 2006 since it holds a three-year exclusive agreement with Heineken brewery.

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