A technician inspects beer products on Chongqing Brewery’s production line. (Photo/Chongqing Brewery)
Chongqing - On February 4, Chongqing Brewery, Carlsberg Group's operational platform in China, released its 2025 performance report. Despite slower growth in China's beer market and rising competition, the company saw stable growth in sales, revenue, and profit.
China’s large-scale breweries produced 35.36 million kiloliters of beer in 2025, down 1.1% year on year, signaling a broader slowdown in the domestic market, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Yet against this backdrop, Chongqing Brewery stood out, showing strong resilience despite industry headwinds.
Chongqing Brewery outperformed the broader market in 2025, with sales volume rising 0.68% year on year, according to its performance report. Revenue edged up 0.53% to 14.72 billion yuan (about $2.12 billion), while net profit attributable to shareholders climbed 10.43% to 1.23 billion yuan, highlighting the company’s resilience amid a slowing industry.
The gains were driven by efforts since 2025 to optimize the product mix, speed up new product launches, and expand non-traditional beverage channels in response to challenging market conditions, the company said.
Lower bulk raw material costs and supply chain optimization helped lift gross margins, while increased market investment also supported growth. Advertising and marketing spending rose from 2024 levels, reinforcing the company’s push to strengthen and expand its market share.
The diversification of its product portfolio is a key pillar of Chongqing Brewery’s stable development. The company offers a rich mix of both local Chinese brands and Carlsberg’s international brands.
Leveraging this advantage, the company has continued to deepen its focus on consumer experiences in 2025, integrating local culture and high-frequency dining and entertainment scenarios, such as sports and music, to provide a more diverse product experience for consumers.
China is one of the most competitive beer markets globally, with the top five players—Budweiser APAC, CR Beer, Tsingtao Brewery, Chongqing Brewery, and Yanjing Beer—accounting for over 90% of the domestic market share. In this competitive market, Carlsberg Group, the Danish beer giant, has successfully secured its position through controlling Chongqing Brewery, further deepening its business expansion in China.
Carlsberg’s control over Chongqing Brewery has been a gradual process. After years of acquisition, in 2013, Carlsberg received approval from relevant authorities for a partial acquisition, increasing its stake to 60% and gaining absolute control of Chongqing Brewery.
In addition to acquiring Chongqing Brewery, Carlsberg also acquired other local beer companies in China. In 2020, Carlsberg fulfilled its commitment to complete a major asset restructuring by injecting its beer assets controlled in China into Chongqing Brewery.