NEWS
CHINA: REGULATORS PURGED ZOMBIE BAIJIU FIRMS IN MAOTAI TOWN
By Staff Reporter
28-10-2026
Credit: Siulan Law
Market authorities in Renhuai city, home to Maotai Town and the Maotai baijiu brand, have launched a fresh regulatory clean-up targeting inactive liquor businesses that trade on the prestige of China’s iconic sauce‑flavoured baijiu origin.
The latest enforcement will likely revoke licences for 149 shell and zombie baijiu operators, the largest single batch this year.
These zombie operators include sales companies, small brewing workshops and supply-chain traders registered in the famous baijiu hub.
These businesses failed to file mandatory annual reports for two consecutive years and could not be reached at their registered addresses, putting them in breach of China’s market entity disclosure rules.
Many of these firms were set up during the earlier sauce‑flavoured baijiu boom, with no distillery assets, base stock or permanent operational teams.
Industry insiders said their business model relied on renting the “Maotai Town” name for labelling, while outsourced production to local small workshops and then sell at marked-up prices to buyers across mainland China and overseas markets.
This batch forms part of a wider multi-phase rectification drive. Two earlier rounds this year had flagged another 21 liquor entities for removal, bringing the total number of liquor firms targeted in the 2026 campaign close to 170.
Officials frame the purge as a move to protect the regional appellation’s reputation, tighten traceability and curb grey-market and counterfeit risks for international buyers sourcing Chinese baijiu from Guizhou.
Local producers welcomed the shake‑out, saying unregulated shell operators have long diluted consumer trust and distorted pricing for legitimate sauce‑flavoured baijiu.
With domestic baijiu consumption softening, the cull also accelerates a natural industry consolidation, weeding out speculative registrations that sprang up when demand for Maotai‑style baijiu surged.
Once finalised, the de-registered names will no longer be permitted to market products using the Maotai Town geographic marker, a critical signal for importers, distributors and duty‑free buyers vetting Chinese baijiu suppliers.
“The Maotai Town brand is one of China’s most valuable spirits assets,” a local industry representative commented. “Clearing these inactive registrations separates serious producers from opportunistic shell companies and stabilises the supply chain for cross-border trade.”
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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