The world’s top liquor brand is now also mainland China’s biggest public company

The world’s most valuable liquor company has just claimed another first.

Kweichow Moutai, the Chinese company known for making the popular national spirit, baijiu, is now the biggest public company in mainland China by market cap after its shares gained 23% so far this year, according to data from Refinitiv.

It’s currently valued at more than 1.8 trillion yuan ($259 billion), surpassing one of the country’s top banks, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (IDCBF), which is worth just under 1.8 trillion yuan ($253 billion).

For comparison, Chinese tech giants Tencent (TCEHY) and Alibaba (BABA) are worth about $605 billion and $614 billion respectively. The former is listed in Hong Kong, while the latter trades in New York and Hong Kong.
Kweichow Moutai has long been one of China’s hottest stocks.