Chongqing Brewery has launched a series of I-liter premium beers. (Photo/Chongqing Daily)

Chongqing – Chongqing Brewery Co., Ltd. reported a marginal increase in first-quarter 2026 operating profit as its premium product portfolio outperformed the rest of the business, according to a regulatory filing published on April 29.

The company traces its roots to the Chongqing Brewery Factory, founded in 1958. It grew into one of western China’s largest breweries, producing local staples such as Chongqing and Shancheng beers. The Danish Carlsberg Group became its controlling shareholder in 2013 and, in 2020, consolidated all its mainland China beer assets into the publicly listed company, making it Carlsberg’s sole China operating platform.

For the three months ended March 31, 2026, the company sold 886,500 kiloliters of beer, up 0.34 percent year-on-year. Core revenue from its main beer business reached 4.253 billion yuan (approximately 620 million U.S. dollars), a 0.2 percent rise, while operating profit grew 0.7 percent to 1.152 billion yuan.

Revenue from premium products climbed 2.42 percent to 2.666 billion yuan, outpacing overall growth and emerging as the quarter’s main earnings highlight.

Product innovation accelerated during the quarter, with several 1-liter craft beer launches hitting the market. The company leveraged its brand portfolio, pairing local brands—Wusu, Chongqing, and Shancheng—with international labels including Carlsberg, Tuborg, and Somersby.

On the production side, Chongqing Brewery’s Dazhulin facility in Chongqing and its Urumqi brewery in Xinjiang each brought flexible 1-liter canning lines into operation in March. Each line has a designed capacity of 10,000 cans per hour and can accommodate multiple formats, can types, and brewing processes.

Brand investment picked up pace as labels including 1664 and Chongqing signed new ambassadors. Wusu rolled out a barbecue-themed campaign, surpassing 200 partner outlets, with more than 100 already operating across multiple cities. The campaign was also recognized as a 2026 annual branding innovation case in China’s alcohol industry.

ESG indicators improved notably. Carbon emissions per hectoliter of beer produced fell 12.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, an absolute reduction of 2,085 metric tons—equivalent to taking roughly 766 passenger cars off the road for a year. Water consumption per hectoliter dropped 4 percent to 1.93 hectoliters per hectoliter.

On March 18, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published its 2025 National Green Factory list, and five Chongqing Brewery facilities in Dali, Tianmu Lake, Wusu, Aksu, and Korla were included.