China: In 2003 Chinese brewers used 8-9 kg of malt per hl of beer compared to 12 kg estimated in 2002, analysts revealed. China reported beer sales of 254 million hl in 2003 versus 238.6 million hl in 2002.

The low imports of malting barley are partly explained by a sharply reduced malt use per hectolitre of beer. Malt stocks in the country are reported to be very small. Although coastal maltsters, who use predominantly imported barley, face a strong competition from the many inland malthouses, there are construction plans for three large new plants with a total capacity of 600,000 tonnes of malt per year.

04 May, 2004