I. Why It Deserves Study

Changbai Mountain is the underlying logic of Jilin Province's liquor and beverage industry. The logic is straightforward: Changbai Mountain provides the cool climate that allows mountain grapes to thrive, the deep-layer mineral springs that anchor the bottled water sector, and the mountain spring water and grain that have sustained Manchu-style baijiu distilling for centuries. Remove this geographic anchor, and all three of Jilin's main industry threads lose their core differentiation.

In terms of scale, this sector is not the largest manufacturing category in Jilin, but its density of geographic indication products and national brand recognition far exceeds what most provinces achieve in the same category: wine, mineral water, and baijiu each carry a nationally recognized name card, and the three producing areas barely overlap, forming a geographically layered industrial map.

II. Cluster Geography

Tonghua: China's Wine City

Tonghua City sits in southeastern Jilin between 40° and 43° north latitude — a range comparable to France's Bordeaux — and Changbai Mountain's cool, humid climate allows mountain grapes to grow naturally and be cultivated at scale. As of 2021, roughly 56 wine enterprises operated in the city, with approximately 36,000 mu (about 2,400 hectares) of wine grape plantations concentrated in two sub-regions: Ji'an City and Liuhe County. Ji'an is certified as a national green food raw material (mountain grape) standardized production base; Liuhe County is designated China's Premier Mountain Grape Wine Township. The Tonghua mountain grape wine region is recognized by China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs as one of the country's top ten wine regions.

Jingyu, Antu, Fusong: The Mineral Water Triangle

The Changbai Mountain hinterland counties of Jingyu, Antu, and Fusong form the core of Jilin's mineral water industry. In 2021, Jingyu County produced approximately 1.169 million tons; Antu County produced 410,000 tons in 2021, rising to 480,000 tons and RMB 700 million in output value by 2024. Nongfu Spring established its first out-of-Zhejiang production base in Jingyu County in 2002, and by 2023 was producing 2.72 million tons per year in Jilin. Quanyangquan, a northeastern homegrown mineral water brand headquartered in Jilin Province, produces approximately 1 million tons annually. Total provincial mineral water output in 2023 reached approximately 7.2 million tons, with output value around RMB 7.2 billion (source: aggregated media reporting).

Daquanyuan Township, Tonghua County: Manchu Baijiu Intangible Heritage

Daquanyuan baijiu originates from Daquanyuan Township in Tonghua County, built on the Baoquanyong Distillery Site dating to the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The site encompasses ancient wells, fermentation pits, distillation furnaces, and wooden barrel (jiuhai) clusters — the largest and best-preserved ancient distillery complex discovered in northeastern China. The traditional brewing technique of Daquanyuan was inscribed on China's second batch of national intangible cultural heritage in 2008, and the product received national geographic indication product protection in 2010.

III. Leading Enterprise Landscape

Tonghua Grape Wine Co., Ltd. (Shanghai Stock Exchange, 600365)

Founded in 1937, Tonghua Grape Wine was taken over by Northeast Democratic United Army troops after the war and became one of the first wines served at the founding banquet of the People's Republic. The company operates what is among the world's largest underground cluster wine cellars with oak barrels in Tonghua, with raw wine storage capacity of 20,000 tons and annual production capacity of 15,000 tons. In 2023, the company reported revenue of approximately RMB 859 million (up 4.62% year-on-year) but remained in a loss position — reflecting the broader contraction of China's wine sector, which saw total national output fall 17.48% year-on-year in 2024 to 118,000 kiloliters.

Nongfu Spring (Jilin Operations)

Nongfu Spring's Changbai Mountain base is a strategic water source in its national layout. Its Jingyu facility produces 2.72 million tons per year in Jilin (2023), making it the province's largest single mineral water enterprise. The Changbai Mountain geographic indication underpins Nongfu's premium water positioning nationally.

Quanyangquan

Quanyangquan is northeastern China's homegrown mineral water brand, with its primary water source in Jilin Province. In 2020, the company reported total main business revenue of approximately RMB 1.37 billion, of which mineral water business contributed roughly RMB 600 million.

Daquanyuan Baijiu

Daquanyuan relies on its national intangible heritage credentials, maintaining traditional pure-grain solid-state fermentation, ancient mineral-spring water, and wooden barrel aging. The brand targets the mid-to-premium Jilin baijiu segment and also develops historical and cultural tourism assets around its ancient distillery site.

IV. Supply Chain Structure

The upstream-downstream logic differs across the three main threads.

For wine: upstream is mountain grape cultivation (Ji'an, Liuhe counties), midstream is crushing, fermentation, and barrel aging, and downstream is bottled products sold through gift and retail channels. Tonghua has a preliminary integrated chain, but deep processing and brand premium capture remain underdeveloped — numerous small and mid-size wineries operate within the region without the national brand visibility to command price premiums.

For mineral water: upstream is water source exploration and protection (capped by Jilin's 2021–2025 Changbai Mountain Mineral Water Conservation and Utilization Plan), midstream is bottling (largely owned by large enterprises directly), and downstream is national distribution and e-commerce. High logistics cost means small local brands struggle to penetrate southern markets; Nongfu Spring's advantage derives from national distribution infrastructure rather than local channel strength.

For baijiu: Daquanyuan represents a "one geographic indication, one core producer" structure. Upstream grain (Jilin-grown sorghum and corn) supply is abundant, but national brand recognition outside the province remains niche. Supply chain extension beyond distilling itself is limited.

Ginseng and deer antler health tonic wine constitutes a distinctive sub-track unique to Jilin — Changbai Mountain is China's largest ginseng producing area, and some enterprises produce ginseng-infused wines and oral liquids. However, this segment has not yet coalesced around a dominant player.

V. Challenges and Transition

The difficulties facing Tonghua Grape Wine reflect broader contraction across China's wine category. Competition from imported wine, diverging consumer tastes, and the deeply embedded cultural dominance of baijiu all constrain market expansion for mountain grape wine. Continuous losses at the listed company demonstrate that geographic scale does not automatically translate into profitability — the scarcity value of geographic indication products requires strong brand operations to be monetized.

The mineral water industry faces dual constraints of environmental protection and extraction quotas. The Changbai Mountain resource planning document sets clear extraction ceilings by county. The long-term tension between the interests of large outside enterprises and local governments over revenue allocation is a structural issue that will require ongoing negotiation.

Non-heritage brands like Daquanyuan baijiu have their primary growth opportunity in cultural tourism integration — packaging historical sites, brewing experiences, and brand narrative into tangible consumer experiences — rather than relying on conventional distribution channel expansion.

For upstream sales teams supplying raw materials, packaging, or equipment to factories in Jilin's liquor and beverage sector, Tianxia Gongchang provides searchable factory directories and key contact information filtered by industry category and region.

VI. Research Institute Note

Jilin's liquor and beverage industry presents a classic pattern of strong resource-endowment drive paired with weak brand operations follow-through. The geographic indication value of mountain grape wine and the source scarcity of Changbai Mountain mineral water both represent real competitive moats — but these moats currently manifest more at the raw material end than as sustainable price premiums at the consumer end. The geographic resource map of Changbai Mountain is already drawn. How to translate that natural endowment into market pricing power remains the most consequential question this industry will face going forward.

Sources

  • Tianxia Gongchang (Jilin Province liquor, beverage and refined tea manufacturer directory and industry data)
  • Tonghua Grape Wine Co., Ltd. 2023 Annual Report (Shanghai Stock Exchange disclosure)
  • Jilin Provincial Bureau of Statistics: Tonghua City Wine Industry Development Status (2018 special report)
  • Jilin Provincial Government: Changbai Mountain Area Mineral Water Resource Conservation and Utilization Plan (2021–2025)
  • Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China: National Top Ten Wine Region Certification (Tonghua Mountain Grape Wine Region)
  • China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network: Daquanyuan Baijiu Traditional Brewing Technique (2nd batch national intangible heritage, 2008)
  • Geographic Indication Product Protection Notice for Daquanyuan Baijiu (China Daily, 2010)
  • Aggregated media reporting on Jilin Province mineral water output and value (Jiemian News, Tencent News, 2023–2024)