Kweichow Moutai has announced on its official website that the company's new policies will soon be published under the guidance of China National Development and Reform Commission and the local bureau of commodity prices in Guizhou Province.
Moutai's chairman Yuan Renguo said at the end of 2012 that the key task for Moutai is to prevent the retail market prices from decreasing.
Lawyer Han Liang says according to the China Anti-monopoly Law, a company is forbidden to set fixed or base prices for distributors. This is a price monopoly.
"Companies are not allowed to set minimum retail prices for distributors, this is what we call vertical price monopoly. It may mean that consumers have to pay higher prices for the product."
Media reports Moutai has punished three distributors for breaking the company's price discipline to sell Moutai liquors at lower prices. However, lawyer Han Liang says the punishment has broken the China Anti-monopoly Law. When being asked about the possible punishment, Han Liang says:
"One possible penalty that Moutai company will face is a fine. As for how much the fine will be, it's decided by the National Development and Reform Commission based on the current anti-monopoly law, it's probably 1 to 10 percent of the total sales revenue, so this is very harsh punishment."
Once Moutai changes its marketing polices, distributors will have certain autonomy in deciding the retail prices of Moutai. As the coming Spring Festival is traditionally a liquor consumption boom time, many distributors will prefer to clear inventories rapidly with low prices, something which is believed to affect the prices of high-end liquors to some degree.
An industrial insider Zhao Jun says a high price does not necessarily mean high quality.
"The overpriced liquor is actually kind of bubble. When the bubble is broken, a high quality product should be priced more reasonably."
Some people believe that tightening entertainment expenses of governmental and public departments will affect the sales of high-end liquor in the New Year season.
In addition, people are becoming more rational when selecting liquor. Media report says Moutai has fallen out of the top 10 preferred brands used as business or personal gifts by China's millionaires, but it was still the only Chinese brand to make it into the top 15.
The Hurun Report's Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2016, released recently, shows the Chinese liquor brand dropped from 5th place last year to 13th in the list of preferred gift brands.
For CRI, I am Zhang Wan.
2009中考英语词汇表 系列H
2010年中考英语词汇旧词新义:blind
2009中考英语词汇表 系列M
09年中考英语总复习经典习题讲解2一名词
2009中考英语词汇表 系列I
2009中考英语词汇表 系列W
2010年中考英语词汇旧词新义:clean
中考英语词汇--“美味水果”大聚会
初中英语常用词组3 量词词组
2009中考英语词汇表 系列O
09年中考英语总复习经典习题讲解1一冠词
初中英语常用词组复习1
09年英语短语集中联想记忆110条
从奥巴马演讲词看英语写作词汇的应用
2009中考英语词汇短语集锦 (2)
“爱”成中学生作文出现频率最高词汇
初中英语常用词组2 介词短语词组
常用英语词语辨析105组(4)
2010年中考英语词汇旧词新义:cost
2009中考英语词汇表 系列T
2009中考英语词汇表 系列N
十个窍门积累英语词汇
2009中考英语词汇表 系列UV
英乐时空Here I Am
09年中考英语总复习经典习题讲解5一代词
初中英语 词缀记忆法
初中英语常用词组1 动词词组
初中英语常用词组复习2
2010年中考英语词汇旧词新义:deal
2009中考英语词汇表 系列PQ
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |