China is the world's largest market for liquor products, with imported spirits accounting for only about 3 percent of domestic consumption, Reuters reported. Western producers are targeting the potential of China's young consumers to boost sales of whiskey and brandy, but are struggling to break the dominance of baijiu producers in the country.

For Western winemakers, "challenging China's national wine is a tall order," Reuters said, but "even small changes in China's market share can pay off for Western companies."

International alcohol giants are now looking to capitalise on the growing demand for whisky and brandy among young Chinese consumers to increase their market share. Until now, Western companies such as Britain's Diageo and France's Pernod Ricard have focused on China's luxury market, but they believe the growing spending power of younger consumers and changing drinking trends could lead to better sales.

According to Autl Chhaparwal, Diageo's managing director for Greater China, their whiskies are aimed at the growing middle class, millennials and Gen Z, as well as high-end consumers.

"There's still a lot of room for growth," Mr. Cheng said, noting that Chinese are drinking more often at home and are starting to consume in a growing number of specialty whiskey bars and boutiques.

The Boston Consulting Group estimates that the number of middle-class and affluent consumers in China will increase by 80 million between 2022 and 2030, bringing the total number to nearly 40% of the population.

Imported spirits now account for about 3 per cent of domestic consumption in China. According to Euromonitor, the baijiu market will be worth about $167 billion in 2023, far more than the $2.8 billion market for whiskey and $9 billion for brandy in China.

Western companies are pulling out all the stops to increase sales in China. Diageo has opened an online store on e-commerce platforms, partnered with local logistics companies to provide "one-hour" product delivery services, and plans to open a distillery in China this year.

In September, Pernod Ricard launched a brandy product in China aimed at young consumers at events such as nightclubs and music festivals, and in December it launched The Chuan, its first single malt whisky of Chinese origin, the first "made in Leshan" single malt whisky to be released since it settled in Leshan.

But Chinese companies are also moving into the whisky market, introducing more and more other spirits to cater to younger consumers, said CAI Xuefei, general manager of Zhiqu Consulting and a baijiu industry analyst.

Daniel Taytslin, co-founder of Gotham East, an imported spirits distributor, believes the dominance of Chinese companies means Western producers will have limited success as they try to gain market share.

Reuters wrote, "Even small changes in China's market share can pay off for Western companies."

According to the research data of IMedia Research, in 2023, the proportion of Chinese alcohol consumers aged 31-40 years old is the highest, followed by the consumer group aged 18-30 years old, and the consumer body shows a trend of younger. The proportion of Chinese wine consumers who prefer beer, wine, liquor and foreign wine is 73.68%, 67.57%, 59.17% and 33.43% respectively.