The state council is still compiling a list of 10 mainland breweries to receive state support, including capital injection and possible tax breaks. The list is being made up as the mainland media campaigns for more protection for domestic industries. An official at the Light Industry Council said a report had been submitted to the state council, now formulating concrete measures to support breweries. 'The whole thing is at a very initial stage,' he said. 'We have not even decided which are the 10 breweries to receive support from the government.' He said the report was mainly a description of the latest developments in the brewing industry. He said the cabinet would decide how to support breweries. 'We have passed the buck to the state council now,' he said. Another official at the Light Industry Council said the crucial problem was the size of capital injections into the 10 breweries to modernise equipment and write off debts. While a full list was not available, the People's Daily reported earlier that H-share company Tsingtao Beer, Zhujiang Beer and Yangjing Beer would be among the 10 selected. The 10 breweries have an annual output of more than 100,000 tonnes, it said. Other proposed preferential treatments included tax breaks and deferment of bank loan repayments. There has been a tide of mainland media reports urging support for 'national industries' against the flood of foreign brands on the China market. China's beer market is highly diversified with hundreds of brands each holding a very small market share. Blue Ribbon, the most popular foreign beer in China, has a market share of about 1.22 per cent, while Tsingtao, the mainland brewing giant, has a market share of less than 3 per cent.
