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WORLD NEWS Saturday 19 May 2018

Rise of Chinese middle class fuels interest in craft beers

By SAM McNEIL and FU small breweries open up in
TING, Associated Press China's major metropolitan
SHANGHAI (AP) — "Panda areas like Beijing, Shanghai
Beer," ''Little General," ''Fly- and Shenzhen.
ing Fist IPA," and "Manda- Craft beers are typically
rin Wheat" are among the more expensive than mass-
offerings on tap at a craft market, low-alcohol con-
beer exhibition this week tent brews like Budweiser
in Shanghai dedicated to and China's Yanjing. But as
expanding the palette of China's middle class grows,
Chinese consumers and so too does its tastes for
promoting sales of high- finer products. A couple of
end brews. years ago, craft beer made
The 2018 Craft Beer of up only 0.3 percent of total
China Exhibition features beer consumption. It has
breweries like Rasenburg since risen to about 5 per-
Beer, Myth Monkey Brew- cent, said Darren Guo, one
ing, Lazy Taps, Goose Is- of the exhibition's organiz-
land and Boxing Cat Brew- ers, who expect to see 30
ery that are sharing tips on percent growth in the craft
the latest technology and beer market every year un-
sales trends as Chinese shift til 2020. "Beer culture is pret-
from legacy brews to more ty much on the beginning
experimental, refined, and In this Wednesday, May 16, 2018, photo, a vendor waits for visitors at a beer booth at the 2018 or starting level."
expensive flavors. From Craft Beer of China Exhibition in Shanghai. Laurel Liu, sales director of
taps at the expo flowed Associated Press Beijing-based Jing-A brew-
creative mixes of flavors ery, says she gets calls from
and traditions, a swirling than the domestic indus- There's money to be made Though craft beer is far small towns asking how to
cocktail of Chinese ingredi- try beer, and then you just in China, which drinks a from upstaging local beer start up a craft brewery.
ents, barley, hops and spic- can't leave it," said Yu Shiqi, quarter of all beer world- behemoths like Tsingtao "You don't even expect
es from around the world. a 40-year old craft beer wide, and small-batch that dominate the $28 bil- them to have craft beer
"After drinking it (craft consumer at the expo who brewers and giant multi- lion national beer market, there but now they do," Liu
beer), it feels much better dreams of brewing his own. nationals are cashing in. it is rising in popularity as said.q

China rejects appeal on behalf of Nobel Prize winner's widow

Associated Press Lu's comments came after the video readings, Amnes-
BEIJING (AP) — China on writers and artists includ- ty International said: "The
Thursday rejected an ap- ing South African novel- excerpts celebrate some
peal from dozens of writers ist and Nobel winner J.M. of Liu Xia's most powerful
and artists for the release Coetzee, Rita Dove, Paul works while calling on the
from house arrest of the Auster, Khaled Hosseini and Chinese government to
widow of Nobel Peace Michael Chabon read ex- end their cruel campaign
Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. cerpts of Liu Xia's poetry as of retaliation against her for
Foreign Ministry spokesman part of a video campaign. her late husband Liu Xiao-
Lu Kang told reporters that Liu Xiaobo died of cancer bo's calls for democratic
Liu Xia's right to travel was last year while serving a reform." Germany said ear-
an issue for the Chinese prison sentence for incite- lier this month it would wel-
government alone to de- ment to subvert govern- come Liu after a recording
termine. ment power. was released of her crying
"It is a matter falls within Liu Xia, who suffers from de- in desperation and indicat-
China's judicial sovereignty. pression and is believed to ing she has given up hope
She is a Chinese national be in declining health, has of being able to leave Chi-
(and) we of course handle never been charged with na. "If I can't leave, I'll die in
the relevant issue in accor- a crime, but has been kept my home," Liu said during In this Saturday, July 15, 2017, file photo provided by the
dance with our laws and guarded and isolated since the recent phone call with Shenyang Municipal Information Office, Liu Xia, center, wife of
regulations," Liu said at a her husband was awarded her close friend Liao Yiwu, jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner and Chinese dissident Liu Xiao-
regularly scheduled news the 2010 prize. a writer who documented bo.
conference. In a news release about their conversation.q Associated Press