This was down from over 800 competitors in the mid-1990s, before the wave of bankruptcies and consolidation started.
It was expected that consolidation would continued, reducing the number of competitors to around 325 by 2004.
In2002, the Chinese beer industry was worth around US$6 billion, with healthy growth at around 6 percent annually.
In 2002, it was estimated that the top ten brewers accounted for around 40 percent of the market.
Tsingtao had the highest market share at around 12 percent.
The two challengers, Yanjin Beer Group and South African Breweries (through its joint venture with China Resources Breweries), together accounted for around 15 percent.