China: Chongqing Brewery Co., China's sixth- biggest brewer by production, said the local government approved its plan to sell a 19.5 % stake to Scottish & Newcastle Plc., the brewer of John Smith's and Kronenbourg, Bloomberg posted on July 2. The company's parent got permission from the Chongqing city authority to sell 50 million state-owned shares to the U.K.'s largest brewer, Chongqing Brewery said in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange. Scottish & Newcastle said in February it would pay 35 million pounds ($65 million) for the stake.

Scottish & Newcastle is making its first foray into China, where Anheuser-Busch Cos., SABMiller Plc and Interbrew SA are stepping up expansion as more Europeans and Americans cut back on beer drinking. China is the world's last beer producer, making 25.7 million tons last year, up 6.4 percent from 2002, according to Tsingtao Brewery Co., the nation's biggest brewer.

Anheuser-Busch last month outbid SABMiller in a takeover battle for Harbin Brewery Co. in northeastern China. Interbrew bought 70 percent of China's Zhejiang Shiliang Brewery Company for $53.2 million in June.

Chongqing, in the southwest, is China's most populous city, with about 31 million people, almost the population of Canada.

02 July, 2004