Asahi introduced successfully the beer brand Pilsner Urquell into the Chinese market in the middle of 2018. The company contracted 238 tap beer outlets serving Pilsner Urquell, 50 out of them in the Yangtze River Delta, and the sales achieved 3 thousand kegs/20 l by the end of 2018. Apart from that packed beer (bottles and cans) is offered in about 1 thousand restaurants and bars and 2 thousand retail shops at the same time. Entering the e-commerce segment through a T-Mall platform was also successful, 3 thousand boxes sold in 3 month period.

Since the Chinese beer market is highly competitive, Asahi pays a lot of attention to the brand marketing.  An emphasis is also given to the improvement of quality how the beer is served at the outlets. For that purpose Asahi has adopted an intensive training system organized also in the Czech Republic where personnel gets acquainted with the Czech beer practices, culture and traditions.

Asahi continues expanding Pilsner Urquell sales in 2019. The number of the contracted outlets is to double by about 300 new places and its total sales are to triple. Interestingly, the long term goal Asahi has been pursuing is to bring Pilsner Urquell to position of No. 1 among top beer brands on the market.

Finally, Asahi has been working up a feasibility study on the prospect of introducing Czech dark and non-alcoholic beers to the Chinese market nowadays.