Bottles of Moutai. Photo: VCG

As the stock price of Chinese top liquor brand Kweichow Moutai has kept on the wane in the past few trading days, a prominent Chinese economist called for a price increase for the brand so it gradually become a luxury liquor brand to compete with other liquor brands on the global market.

Since the supply of Kweichow Moutai has always been short, it's better to let the market to regulate its selling prices, for example, to double the price in overseas markets, Chinese economist Ren Zeping said during a seminar about Moutai on March 12.

Ren believes Kweichow Moutai is one of the brands that have the potential to be a world-class luxury liquor brand. And one of the major sources of the disputes about the brand is its market positioning: to be a high-end liquor brand or to cap its price so more ordinary people can afford it.

"Chinese people are the major force of buying luxury products, but China doesn't have world class luxury liquor brand," Ren said, adding that "Moutai's quality and culture is suitable to be a high-end brand in the world".

Moutai has been capping its price. For example, the price of Flying Fairy (Feitian) series, has been set for 1,499 yuan ($230) per bottle. The market price for Feitian series has exceed 2,000 yuan or more for a long time due to a supply shortage.

"The continued increase of its market price is a result of market rules. Under the rules, the market price is subject to supply-demand relation. It's useless and unnecessary to cap the price," Ren said.

Kweichow Moutai's social responsibility should not be limited to be "making the brand affordable for everyone," because it's neither in line with economic rules nor realistic. Instead, its responsibility should be reflected on its contribution on handing in tax revenue, providing jobs and aiding poverty alleviation, Ren said.

"From the economic point of view, the price increase could be taken as a taxation - to levy on richer people and help those who are left behind, which could be beneficial for balancing income gap," Ren said.

Ren's comments were strongly echoed by Chinese netizens with some saying China's liquor deserves a place on the world stage, and let the market to decide the price.

A WeChat user surnamed Gu said that a country's rejuvenation should include its culture, and Kweichow Moutai is a symbol of Chinese culture's rejuvenation.

Global Times