Employees display products at the exhibition booth of Kweichow Moutai Co during the 8th China (Guizhou) International Alcoholic Beverage Expo starting on Sunday in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou Province. On the opening day, nearly 10,000 visitors lined up in front of Moutai's booth to buy liquor. Each customer was limited to purchasing four bottles at a price of 1,500 yuan ($219) per bottle. Photo: IC

The market capitalization of leading liquor maker Kweichow Moutai Co, as measured in tradable shares, is now the highest on China's stock markets, media reports said on Thursday. 

The market capitalization of Kweichow Moutai, a distiller based in Southwest China's Guizhou Province, outweighed that of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world's largest bank by revenue, at the market's closing on Thursday, domestic news site thepaper.cn reported, citing WIND data.

Kweichow Moutai's market capitalization was 1.55 trillion yuan ($220.13 billion) while ICBC was valued at 1.54 trillion yuan. However, ICBC, China Construction Bank and Ping An Insurance still lead the liquor maker if their locked-up shares are counted. Chinese banks are favored by investors due to their strong profitability.

Shares of Kweichow Moutai have soared in recent weeks, reaching a high of 1,241.61 yuan per share on Tuesday. 

Analysts said the change in the ranking could signify rising market expectations for consumer stocks, rather than those from other industries, as the Chinese economy shifts its growth engine toward consumption. 

Some investors also noted that food and beverage shares tend to have more promising performances when China's economy enters a down cycle.  

In the third quarter, domestic consumption contributed about 60.5 percent to GDP growth in China.

China's consumers remain bullish on spending. In data analytics company Nielsen's consumer trend index, China's third-quarter rating, at 114 points, beat a global average of 107 points.

In 2018, China's liquor industry generated revenue of 536.4 billion yuan, up 12.9 percent year-on-year.