Fenjiu launches two new shops in Hong Kong

Xinghuacun Fenjiu Group, a renowned producer of baijiu, or white liquor, in Shanxi province, recently opened two new outlets in the southern Chinese metropolis of Hong Kong, dedicated to the sales of its Silk Road limited edition of baijiu.

Wang Wenqing, a baijiu researcher and deputy secretary-general of the Shanxi Federation of Industry and Commerce, said this move marked Xinghuacun Fenjiu's reiteration of the importance of Hong Kong, which is seen by the company as a springboard for global expansion.

According to the researcher, the distiller first set foot in Hong Kong at the beginning of the 20th century. From Hong Kong, the Fenjiu-branded baijiu products were sold to Japan, Southeast Asia and other regions.

Wing Lee Wai has been the most important dealer of Fenjiu-branded products in Hong Kong for more than 100 years.

Fenjiu began to attract the attention of international buyers in 1915 after it won a first prize at the Panama Pacific International Exposition, which was held in San Francisco in the United States. Seeing its market potential, Wing Lee Wai signed a franchise agreement with Jinyu Fenjiu, the predecessor of Xinghuacun Fenjiu, in 1919, to be responsible for the baijiu brand's sales in Hong Kong, Macao and overseas markets.

"Since then, several Fenjiu brands, including Fenjiu and Zhuyeqing, have become popular in Hong Kong and overseas markets," Wang said.

The popularity was demonstrated in an auction in August 2018, where a bottle of Fenjiu produced in 1927, with a Wing Lee Wai label on the bottle, was sold for 8.64 million yuan ($1.36 million), according to Wang.

Since the 1950s, Zhuyeqing has been the most popular Xinghuacun Fenjiu variety on the Hong Kong market. Its sales volume increased from several metric tons in the 1950s to more than 600 tons in the 1980s.

Wang said the growing popularity of Xinghuacun Fenjiu brands is the result of the company's constant innovation to suit local market demands.

"To meet Hong Kong people's demand for a healthy life, the sugar content of Zhuyeqing in Hong Kong was decreased from 10 percent to 8 percent in the late 1970s," Wang said. "And the company also presented the Zhuyeqing variety that can be mixed with ice or water to further lower its sugar and alcohol content without sacrificing its taste."

Xinghuacun Fenjiu launched its Silk Road edition in Hong Kong in June 2019. It is tailored to not only Hong Kong but overseas markets, according to Zhang Weidong, general manager for international trade at Xinghuacun Fenjiu.

"We made its debut in Hong Kong as we view the city as a hub of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and a gateway to the international market," Zhang said.

Zhao Qingyuan contributed to this story.