Japanese Sake Trade Fair in Beijing: Chinese Buyers Prize Award Records

39 companies and 462 SKUs gather in Beijing

On 4 August 2026, JETRO (the Japan External Trade Organization), Japan’s public trade promotion agency, held a Japanese Alcoholic Beverages Business Meeting in Beijing, China, jointly with Japan’s National Tax Agency. It is one of the events under the “Global Gateway for Japanese Food” programme, which connects local buyers with Japanese food businesses in major cities overseas. Thirty-nine companies from five Japanese prefectures took part, presenting a total of 462 SKUs, including sake, shochu, fruit wine and whisky. A SKU is the smallest unit used in inventory management, so the same brand in a different volume is counted separately. Alongside Japanese brewers, Chinese importers of Japanese alcoholic beverages also exhibited. More than 350 visitors attended, including Beijing wholesalers of food and drink, people from restaurants and retail, and members of the general public. At the venue, Wang Bing, an international kikisake-shi certified by the Sake Service Institute and Sake Shōshō Research Association Federation (SSI), gave a talk on how to expand sales channels for sake in the Chinese market. A kikisake-shi is a qualification equivalent to a sake sommelier.

What buyers wanted: award records

Exhibitors named as gains the new customer information they obtained and the chance to speak directly with many of Beijing’s Japanese restaurants. Because so many visitors came from the restaurant trade, some said the event brought home again how large Beijing’s dining-out market is. They added that the next challenge is to pitch not only to Japanese restaurants but also to bistros and Chinese restaurants. The buyers’ interests, on the other hand, were clear. One buyer was looking for products with a record of competition awards or media coverage, and said that, having found many sake that won awards in 2025, they wanted to move ahead with negotiations. In a market with barriers of language and culture, an award record seems to serve as an easily understood mark of quality.

Enjoying sake in Europe

Choosing by award record is a method you can also use when buying sake in Europe. If an importer’s or retailer’s description mentions a win at an international competition, it can help you pick a first bottle. However, awards are given by year and by category, so check the year and category of the win as well. And as the Beijing exhibitors noted when they named expanding sales to venues other than Japanese restaurants as a challenge, sake is not a drink for Japanese food alone. Try it with bistro dishes or Chinese cuisine, or check its aroma in a wine glass, and pair it with food you know well.