Wuliangye relishes vital role in both history and future of China's liquor industry

As the weathervane for the development of China's liquor industry, Wuliangye is achieving high-quality development while building a healthy and innovative enterprise in the sector, its senior executives said at an annual meeting.

Themed with "achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration", the 24th Wuliangye 1218 Annual Conference, a traditional ceremony for Wuliangye and its supply chains, kicked off on Dec 18 in Yibin, Sichuan province. It attracted global attention for its key role in the industry and positive influence on China's economic growth.

Li Shuguang, Party secretary and chairman of Wuliangye, said the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) will be a vital period for Wuliangye to recognize a new round of high-quality development.

Song Shuyu, chairman of the China Liquor Industry Association, predicts the total output of liquor in the country for 2020 will fall by about 10 percent year-on-year.

"The development of China's liquor industry in the post-epidemic era has encountered both opportunities and challenges," Song said.

Wuliangye is determined to help build the new dual-cycle development pattern, promote domestic and global consumption and bring benefits to the liquor industry.

The liquor industry in Sichuan is facing a major opportunity for the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing region's dual-city economic circle.

The province will focus on building a modern industrial system and a globally influential food and beverage industry cluster, supported by liquor.

After surpassing 100 billion ($15.31 billion) in revenue and a market value exceeding 1 trillion yuan in advance, Wuliangye is confident in its ability to maintain its high-quality leapfrog development.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic, the community of new manufacturers of Wuliangye has become closer.

Wuliangye always regards its distributors as partners for common growth, according to the company.

During the epidemic, Wuliangye took the lead in implementing precise policies and regulations to reduce the burden on distributors.

The company's Wuhan business operator Song Ning, who won the title of six-star operator at the conference, said Wuliangye's multiple business support policies have quickly restored sales in the second half of the year.

As consumers begin to favor high-quality products and trust the Wuliangye brand, "I have full confidence in the completion of this year's business tasks and look forward to the company's development in the coming year," Song said.

The unique natural endowment and Wuliangye's traditional brewing skills have laid a solid foundation for the quality of Wuliangye liquor.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period, Wuliangye implemented a supply-side structural reform centered on liquor body innovation and process innovation based on adhering to tradition, building a full life cycle quality management system from "a seed to a drop of fine liquor."

Natural production areas, brewing techniques, and standard systems provide a fundamental guarantee for Wuliangye to maintain its ultimate quality and pursue excellence in the future.

At the same time, Wuliangye adheres to the organic integration of the two major reforms on the supply and demand sides, building a clearer and more suitable product structure for consumption trends. As a result, the purity, consistency, grade and recognition of the products have been greatly improved.

Wuliangye will achieve a new round of high-quality market share increase by relying on strategic high-end large single products, such as classic Wuliangye.

The early stage of the 14th Five-Year Plan will ensure the production capacity of raw liquor reaches 250,000 metric tons and the storage capacity of raw wine will exceed 1 million tons.

In 2021, the company will realize the intelligentization of finished liquor packaging and storage while also completing the modern intelligent transformation of raw grain milling and processing.

The launch of these major projects will become a strong engine for Wuliangye's development during the 14th Five-Year Plan.

Talent is the company's most precious resource. In recent years, Wuliangye has continued to promote the development strategy of "strengthening the enterprise with talents", focusing on cultivating traditional industrial craftsmen while supporting the construction of industrial workers. It has established a knowledge-based, technical and innovative industrial worker team.

Through the establishment of a national-level enterprise technology center, a post-doctoral mobile workstation and a quality inspection center, Wuliangye has brought together high-end liquor artisans such as Chinese master brewers, Chinese liquor craft masters, and Chinese chief tasters.

Wuliangye will continue to uphold the core value concept of creating happiness for employees, deepening the construction of people's livelihood projects, and enhancing their sense of security and happiness.

The company also hopes to continue to acquire employees while it develops.

Talented craftsmen are coming out in large numbers and entrepreneurial passion is surging. Both will become a driving force for Wuliangye to overcome obstacles during the 14th Five-Year Plan.

"Yibin has more than 4,000 years of brilliant history creating liquor culture and development," said Du Ziping, mayor of the city. "Wuliangye is one of the most amazing parts of that history." Based on its long history and culture and brewing technology, Wuliangye will accelerate the construction of a consumer-centric, three-dimensional fragrant value promotion system that considers the industry and its merchants.

Li said Wuliangye will adhere to seeking progress while maintaining stability to meet the new demands of consumption.

"Innovation, transformation, and leapfrogging are the three main keynotes of Wuliangye's future development," Li said, adding that in terms of innovation, Wuliangye insists on giving priority to quality. The company has also made major breakthroughs in brand building.

It continues to promote process innovation on the basis of tradition.

Facing the future, Wuliangye's plan will provide a model for the liquor industry and even Chinese enterprises to cultivate new opportunities.

"The future is like a sea, and the journey is long," Li said. "We expect more market players to steadily develop new opportunities while taking advantage of the momentum to help China's economic ship move toward a more brilliant and magnificent tomorrow."