HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Battling the beer bulge has taken on a new meaning in China where international brewers, facing saturated markets at home, are racing to tap into a booming yet glutted market.
China's beer market is the world's second largest after the United States, and is already the number one market in Asia for international brands.
These days overseas beer giants, unable to beat domestic brewers' vast sales networks and low production costs, are buying into some of the largest local players.
Others now looking to pour money into the China beer market are: South African breweries, Belgium based Interbrew, and Japan's number two brewer Kirin.
"Very, very competitive, especially if you look at the urban markets, generally there are two or three entrenched state owned breweries already in place and now you have national brands like Tsingtao trying to make inroads," says Henry Lee of Hendale Asia.

04 January, 2003