IN 1903, a German businessman and a British businessman co-founded Germanic Beer Co. Ltd. in Qingdao, which is now a world famous beer brand.

In the 1950s, Tsingtao beer entered the international market for the first time. So far, it has been sold in more than 70 countries and regions such as the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada, Brazil and Mexico, ranking first in export volume among Chinese beers. Half of the beer exported from China is Tsingtao. In 1972, Tsingtao entered the United States market and its sales volume reached 1.24 million boxes in 1988 and is now still the No. 1 Asian beer on the United States market. Since Tsingtao was first exported to Europe, it has been popular among consumers and has won several international golden awards. The company first set up its European branch office in Italy and the office was later moved to Paris. It is now the only Asian beer sold in supermarkets such as Carrefour in Europe.

In 1993, Tsingtao listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, becoming the first mainland company to be listed on a overseas stock market.

In 2003, Qingdao celebrated its 100th anniversary.

In 2005, Tsingtao became the official sponsor for the Beijing Olympics.

Since 2005, a new round of marketing promotion activities has been launched across the country, targeting young consumers.

In 2008, the company signed cooperation agreements with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the United States.

In 2009 and 2010, Tsingtao launched competitions for selecting cheer leaders for the NBA and founded a special fund for sports development.

As of now, the brand’s value has reached 42.618 billion yuan, making it the leading beer company in the country and one of the World’s Top 500 Enterprises.

(Wang Yuanyuan, Qingbao)