I. Why Sichuan Baijiu Demands Serious Study

On the map of Chinese baijiu, a single industrial corridor running along the southern rim of the Sichuan Basin concentrates the industry's most important names and its most consequential production capabilities.

Yibin — known as "China's Baijiu Capital" — is the birthplace of the multi-grain concentrated-aroma (浓香) process. Luzhou — known as "China's Baijiu City" — is the canonical home of single-grain concentrated-aroma. Mianzhu, in Deyang Prefecture, is the home of Jiannan Chun, a spirit with documented Tang Dynasty imperial pedigree. Qionglai, in metropolitan Chengdu, once earned the title of "China's Base Spirit (yuan jiu) Hometown," serving as the country's largest wholesale hub for base baijiu. These four production zones, strung along the upper Yangtze and its tributaries, constitute the world's largest geographic unit of baijiu production.

The numbers substantiate the scale. In 2023, Sichuan's baijiu manufacturing sector ranked first nationally in above-scale enterprise revenue; output totalled 1.741 million kiloliters — roughly 27.7% of the national total. Of the nine Chinese baijiu enterprises with annual revenue exceeding RMB 20 billion, four are headquartered in Sichuan.

This research maps the real landscape of Sichuan's alcohol, beverage and refined tea manufacturing sector: where the scale comes from, which enterprises anchor which production zone, what the Six Golden Flowers franchise represents in numbers, how the refined tea sector has carved out its own billion-yuan trajectory alongside baijiu, and where upstream procurement demand concentrates.

II. Industrial Scale: The National-Champion Numbers

Sichuan baijiu's national standing needs to be read through several interlocking data points.

In 2023, China's above-scale baijiu enterprises posted combined sales revenue of approximately RMB 756.3 billion. Sichuan's baijiu manufacturing revenue ranked first nationally among all provinces. Profits grew 18.7% year-on-year, ranking second nationally — behind only Guizhou, home of Kweichow Moutai. By volume, Sichuan's 1.741 million kiloliters placed it first in national output, at roughly 27.7% of the national total.

One structural observation is worth making explicit: Sichuan's output share has contracted from a peak of around 53% in 2021, but its revenue and profit shares have held at higher levels, indicating that Sichuan baijiu is concentrating upward toward the mid-to-premium tier. Four of the nine enterprises nationwide with annual revenue above RMB 20 billion are from Sichuan. Wuliangye alone posted RMB 83.272 billion in revenue and RMB 30.211 billion in net profit in 2023, holding the second position in the national baijiu rankings.

Within the broader "alcohol, beverages and refined tea" manufacturing category, Sichuan's refined tea and beverage sectors add substantial volume. In 2023, Sichuan's tea output reached 42.5 million tonnes, and the total tea industry chain value exceeded RMB 120 billion — a figure that crossed the 100 billion yuan threshold for the third consecutive year. Sichuan is also among the top provinces nationally for fruit juice beverage production. But within the three segments, baijiu is the overwhelming anchor, and it is the primary focus of this report.

III. Four Production Zones: The Geography of Concentrated Aroma

The distribution of Sichuan baijiu production is not arbitrary historical accumulation. It reflects a coherent geographic and process logic.

Yibin Zone is the single largest baijiu production cluster in China by revenue. Anchored by Wuliangye, the Yibin zone as a whole accounts for approximately one quarter of national baijiu revenue and one sixth of national baijiu profits — a remarkable concentration for one prefecture-level city. Wuliangye's five-grain recipe (sorghum, rice, glutinous rice, wheat, and corn) defines the multi-grain concentrated-aroma style that has become the dominant paradigm in Chinese premium baijiu. Beyond Wuliangye itself, the Yibin zone hosts more than 50 above-scale baijiu enterprises — including Gaozhou Liquor, Xufu Liquor, and Yongle Ancient Cellar — that share the multi-grain production tradition and form a complete industrial cluster around Wuliangye's supply chain.

Luzhou Zone is China's premier single-grain concentrated-aroma zone, and also gave rise to one of the major sauce-aroma (酱香) producers. Luzhou Laojiao is distinguished by its cluster of cellar pits with more than 600 years of continuous use — the longest in active service in the Chinese distilling industry. Langjiu is based in Erlang Town, Gulin County (Luzhou), with sauce-aroma products at its core, along with concentrated-aroma and blended-aroma lines, forming what the company calls a "one tree, three flowers" product architecture. In 2023, Luzhou's baijiu zone achieved approximately RMB 118 billion in annual revenue — making it one of three national zones with over RMB 100 billion in baijiu revenue. Luzhou Laojiao alone posted RMB 30.233 billion in revenue and RMB 13.246 billion in net profit in 2023, with both figures growing approximately 20% and 28% year-on-year respectively, and net profit ranking in the top three among listed baijiu enterprises. Luzhou's output accounts for roughly one sixth of national baijiu production.

Mianzhu Zone centers on Mianzhu County in Deyang Prefecture. Jiannan Chun originates here and traces its documented history to the Tang Dynasty imperial court. In 2023, Jiannan Chun posted revenue of approximately RMB 15.75 billion, placing it 22nd on the Sichuan private enterprise top-100 list — among the largest non-listed baijiu enterprises in the province. The Mianzhu zone is predominantly concentrated-aroma in style and is working toward a zone brand strategy built around Jiannan Chun.

Qionglai Zone belongs to metropolitan Chengdu. Historically, Qionglai hosted more than 1,600 baijiu producers at its peak, with base spirit (yuan jiu) output at one point accounting for roughly 70% of the national base spirit market — making it the invisible raw material engine of the national baijiu industry. After extensive market consolidation, Qionglai today has 164 licensed baijiu producers, 9 above-scale enterprises, approximately 29,000 cellar pits, and recorded approximately RMB 12 billion in alcohol industry revenue in 2023. Qionglai is now repositioning from base spirit wholesaler to a branded production zone anchored by boutique distilleries and a distinctive Chengdu-area brand identity.

IV. The Six Golden Flowers: Structural Anchors of the Brand Landscape

"Sichuan's Six Golden Flowers" (六朵金花) is the industry shorthand for the six Sichuan baijiu brands with nationwide recognition: Wuliangye, Luzhou Laojiao, Jiannan Chun, Langjiu, Shede Spirits, and Jing Brand (Shuijingfang).

The six brands are distributed across different production zones and represent different aroma types and business strategies.

Wuliangye, positioned as the leading multi-grain concentrated-aroma brand, posted RMB 83.272 billion in revenue in 2023. Shuijingfang, positioned as an ultra-premium urban concentrated-aroma brand, posted RMB 4.953 billion. Luzhou Laojiao is the canonical "founder of the concentrated-aroma style" — a brand narrative it has sustained for decades. Langjiu is the only one of the six with deep commitment to the sauce-aroma segment; its sauce-aroma product "Qinghua Lang" has established stable recognition in the premium sauce-aroma market. Shede Spirits posted RMB 7.081 billion in revenue in 2023, up approximately 17% year-on-year. Langjiu's revenue is estimated at approximately RMB 22 billion.

Calculated together using the four listed enterprises alone, the Six Golden Flowers generated combined revenue exceeding RMB 125.5 billion in 2023. Adding Langjiu and Jiannan Chun, the combined Six Golden Flowers revenue exceeds RMB 160 billion — accounting for more than one fifth of China's total above-scale baijiu sales revenue.

Beyond the Six Golden Flowers, Sichuan also has a tier of regionally influential brands — sometimes called the "Ten Small Golden Flowers" — including Xiantan, Xufu, Jiangkou Chun, Fenggu, and Wenjun. These enterprises are significant participants in the mid-tier purchasing ecosystem of the baijiu supply chain.

V. Refined Sichuan Tea: A Second Billion-Yuan Track Beyond Baijiu

Beneath the towering presence of baijiu, Sichuan's refined tea sector is an industry track that consistently commands less attention than it deserves.

Sichuan is one of China's oldest tea-producing regions. Mengding Mountain (Mengding Shan) is recognized as one of the earliest sites of cultivated tea production in Chinese history. Today, Sichuan tea has grown into a genuine hundred-billion-yuan industry. In 2023, the province had approximately 5.9 million mu of tea gardens; total tea output reached 42.5 million tonnes (up 8.1% year-on-year); total tea industry chain value exceeded RMB 120 billion, crossing the 100 billion mark for the third consecutive year.

Sichuan tea production is dominated by green tea, with a distinctive dark tea category — Ya'an Tibetan Tea (藏茶) — as a noted specialty. Ya'an is the most important single prefecture-level tea producing area. In 2023, Ya'an had 1.0055 million mu of tea gardens in cultivation, producing 119,200 tonnes of dried raw tea, with total tea industry chain value of RMB 24 billion. The "Mengding Shan Tea" regional public brand was appraised at RMB 4.96 billion in brand value — entering the national top-ten regional tea brand value list for the seventh consecutive year. "Ya'an Tibetan Tea" reached RMB 2.969 billion in brand value, up 34.71% year-on-year, the fastest-growing regional brand among dark tea categories.

The province's refined tea policy target is for total tea industry value to exceed RMB 130 billion by 2025, with deep-processed and exported refined tea as the primary growth vectors.

VI. Upstream Supply Chain: Who Supplies This Trillion-Yuan Industry

The scale of baijiu and refined tea manufacturing in Sichuan means that upstream procurement is persistent, large-volume, and structurally diverse.

Packaging and containers represent the largest upstream category by value. Premium baijiu is a category where packaging aesthetics directly shape purchase decisions, and major brands invest heavily in bottle design, box construction, and anti-counterfeiting features. The Luzhou zone has already developed a fairly complete glass bottle supply ecosystem, with enterprises such as Luzhou Huasheng Glass and Yibin Globe Group supplying mid-to-high-end glass bottles to leading distilleries. Packaging printers and paper-box manufacturers in Deyang's Shifang area supply branded carton packaging to enterprises including Moutai and Wuliangye. Closures, anti-counterfeiting components, and ceramic spirit bottles are additional sub-categories with substantial procurement volumes.

Qu starter and brewing raw materials are the foundation of the baijiu production chain. Concentrated-aroma baijiu uses sorghum as the primary raw material and wheat for qu starter production; multi-grain concentrated-aroma additionally incorporates rice, glutinous rice, and corn. Sichuan's combined demand for premium brewing sorghum is substantial, and local sorghum cultivation acreage has been expanding to meet distillery demand. Qu-starter wheat, specialty brewing enzyme preparations, and cellar-pit microbial inoculants are stable annual procurement categories.

Filling and intelligent packaging equipment have become rapidly growing capital expenditure items for leading baijiu enterprises. As top-tier distilleries accelerate investment in automated production lines, demand for automated filling systems, intelligent palletizing, inline inspection equipment, and anti-counterfeiting traceability systems has increased sharply. Luzhou Laojiao's investment of over RMB 10 billion in an intelligent packaging center is the most visible data point for this trend.

Upstream supply for refined tea concentrates in tea processing machinery, refined tea grading and sorting equipment, tea packaging machinery, modified-atmosphere packaging materials, and — driven by export growth — compliance testing and traceability systems.

For upstream suppliers in packaging, glass bottles, closures, qu-starter materials, filling equipment, or tea processing machinery, reaching Sichuan's alcohol and beverage manufacturers at scale is far more efficient than prospecting company by company. Tianxia Gongchang maintains a directory of manufacturers in Sichuan's alcohol, beverage and refined tea sector — including factory profiles and contact information — allowing upstream sales teams to filter by production zone and sub-category, turning client acquisition from guesswork into a structured search.

VII. Challenges and Research Institute Assessment

Drawing the threads together, Sichuan's alcohol, beverage and refined tea manufacturing landscape exhibits a distinctive pattern of top-tier polarization and inter-zone differentiation.

The baijiu industry faces a structural challenge as overall growth transitions from expansion to competition over existing market share. Sichuan's baijiu output declined 2.6% in the first half of 2024, continuing an industry-wide adjustment. The tension between demographic pressure on baijiu consumption among younger consumers and the resilience of premiumization among established drinkers is accelerating brand consolidation. The scale of the Yibin and Luzhou zones ensures there will be no sector-wide collapse, but the ongoing elimination of smaller and mid-tier distilleries will accelerate. Zones known primarily for base-spirit supply — Qionglai being the clearest case — face the difficult transition from ingredient supplier to branded production area, a transition that will take years to complete.

Refined Sichuan tea faces a different challenge: translating a "hundred-billion-yuan industry" headline into brand premium at the retail and export level. Ya'an Tibetan Tea and Mengding Shan Tea have made measurable progress on regional brand construction, but in consumer awareness, Sichuan tea overall still trails Fujian's Tieguanyin and Yunnan's Pu-erh in brand depth. Deep processing and export value-addition are the two clearest levers for closing this gap.

The assessment of Tianxia Gongchang Industry Research Institute is this: Sichuan baijiu's competitive moat is fundamentally the irreproducibility of cellar-pit ecosystems and the microbial complexity that accumulates over centuries of continuous use. The cellar-pit vintage advantage held by Yibin and Luzhou Laojiao is not something that modern factory logic can replicate on any near-term timeline — a structural advantage quite different from what governs competition in inspection equipment or auto components. As baijiu competition shifts to a mature-market mode, consumer attention will concentrate further on production zones and brands with genuine cellar-pit credentials, and this is, paradoxically, a structural tailwind for the Six Golden Flowers. For upstream suppliers, this means that as the industry consolidates, access to the top-tier supply chains will increasingly determine the stability of order flow, and winning preferred-supplier status with a leading distillery is worth more than spreading across dozens of smaller accounts. The refined tea sector's consistent volume growth trajectory, meanwhile, points to an upstream market for tea processing and packaging that is still in expansion mode — a sub-track worth positioning in ahead of the broader industry, alongside, rather than merely in the shadow of, Sichuan's famous baijiu heartland.

Data Sources

  • Tianxia Gongchang (Factory directory and industry data for alcohol, beverages and refined tea manufacturers in Sichuan Province)
  • Sichuan Online: Continued Deep Adjustment — Sichuan Baijiu Output Down 2.6% in First Half of 2024 (H1 2024 output 775,000 kl; national above-scale baijiu sales revenue RMB 756.3 billion)
  • Industry Mirror: Listed Sichuan Baijiu Enterprises Post Strong 2023 Results — Sichuan Online (Four listed Sichuan baijiu enterprises combined revenue exceeding RMB 125.5 billion)
  • Mid-to-High-End Sales Growth Drives Luzhou Laojiao Revenue Past RMB 30 Billion — Jiemian News (Luzhou Laojiao 2023 revenue RMB 30.233 billion; net profit RMB 13.246 billion)
  • Yibin Holds One Quarter of National Baijiu Revenue and One Sixth of Profits — Sina Finance (Yibin zone accounts for approximately one-quarter of national baijiu revenue)
  • Luzhou Zone at RMB 130 Billion, Setting an Example for New Quality Productivity in Baijiu — Sina Finance (Luzhou zone 2023 baijiu revenue approximately RMB 118 billion; one-sixth of national output)
  • Qionglai: "China's Base Spirit Hometown" — Sichuan Online (Qionglai 2023 alcohol revenue approximately RMB 12 billion; 29,000 cellar pits)
  • Sichuan Tea Annual Value Exceeds RMB 100 Billion for Third Consecutive Year — China News Service Sichuan (2023 Sichuan tea total industry chain value exceeding RMB 120 billion)
  • Ya'an Tea Industry 2023: Ten Keywords for "Three-Tea Integration" — Ya'an Municipal Government (Ya'an tea total value RMB 24 billion; Mengding Shan brand value RMB 4.96 billion; Ya'an Tibetan Tea brand value RMB 2.969 billion)
  • Sichuan to Advance High-Quality Development of Refined Sichuan Tea — Sichuan Provincial Government (Provincial target for tea industry value to exceed RMB 130 billion by 2025)
  • Jiannan Chun: A Millennium Vintage — Sichuan Economic Daily (Jiannan Chun 2023 revenue approximately RMB 15.75 billion)