Tsingtao was one of the local competitors who took advantage of the difficulties of foreign entrants.
It made several acquisitions over 45 by early 2003, raising its production volume to 25 million hectoliters.
Its sales in 2001 were US$637 million.
Tsingtao’s chairman, Li Guirong, believed that volume was critical to gain competitive advantage (even through more than half of the acquired breweries were losing money), and that despite the company’s 53 percent gearing, there was still more scope for expansion: