Japanese brewing force, Asahi Breweries, is to build a new brewery in Beijing, through its Chinese joint venture, Beijing Beer Asahi. The decision was taken due to a forecasted rise in consumption with the start of the 2008 Olympic games. The plant will start operations from the spring of 2004. Asahi will invest about ¥5 billion in the deal and the plant is supposed to produce about 100 million litres of beer per year.

Beijing Beer Asahi - jointly owned by Asahi, trading house Itochu Corp and a Chinese partner - will launch the new brewery to replace an existing facility operating in the city.

Asahi currently operates five beer plants through joint ventures in China, which produced a total of 510 million litres last year.

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