THE international flotation of Qingdao Brewery has run into a hitch over the value of its finest asset - the Tsingtao brand name.
It may be the best recognised trade mark of any Chinese company, but the value that can be put on it is the subject of an accountancy dispute.
Chinese rules on valuation mean that trade names cannot be valued at more than 20 per cent of tangible assets.
However, the high-profile Tsingtao label is probably worth more than the company's vats, kettles and bottling plants.
This has caused problems for Mr Paul Brown, managing director of Sallmanns (Far East), whose company is handling the valuation of Qingdao Brewery, one of the nine mainland companies that plan foreign listings.
Mr Brown predicted that the first of the nine enterprises should be ready for listing by the end of this month, while the others should follow shortly, before the valuations and accounts became outdated.