Moutai is the world’s most valuable alcohol brand, according to Kantar BrandZ 2026 rankings. It’s China’s most prestigious brand of baijiu: the clear distilled grain spirit that’s known and loved across the country.
Made from the red sorghum grain, it’s served at Chinese state banquets and often presented as a diplomatic gift.
In fact, the brand value of Moutai far exceeds that of Corona, the #2 in Kantar’s BrandZ rankings.
And while Moutai may be the biggest baijiu brand, it’s not alone. Also featuring in the top 20 is Wu Liang Ye, another ultra-premium Chinese baijiu brand crafted in Yibin, Sichuan Province. There’s also Xing Hua Cun, a lighter version from Shanxi Province.
Baijiu - and its top brands - are little known outside of China: yet they still represent some of the world’s strongest brands. Why?
Chinese brand power
Kantar measures brand value by combining several metrics. There’s the financial value: the cold hard cash that the brands contribute to corporate earnings.
Then there’s demand (how much consumers want to buy the beverage), pricing power (the ability to command a premium) and the potential of future growth.
For baijiu, that plays out in three key areas: starting with the sheer population size of China (around 1.4 billion people)
“You’ve got a huge, huge population of drinkers,” says Graham Staplehurst, director at Kantar BrandZ.
“You’ve got premium: the premium baijiu brands are the ones that are getting on our list: that higher profitability and stronger financials.
“And then you’ve got culture. And that culture is the really interesting dimension for all alcohol.”
Alcohol’s place in culture
Alcohol has a fundamental role in many cultures around the world. It might be sake in Japan, akvavit in Sweden, or feni in India.
And baijiu is very much the spirit of China.
That creates a double-edged sword when it comes to brand value. Its place in national culture cannot be understated: but it’s also a category that cannot be automatically transplanted into other markets.
But it’s far from impossible.
Snow
The world's top selling beer? Snow Beer.
Snow Beer, from Ch ina Resources, leads volume sales in beer. It's sold primarily in China, where the population pushes volume, but remains largely unknown outside of Asia.
Consumers across the world are always on the lookout for something new. And they love global flavours: tastes and ideas that let them travel without leaving their home city.
And they’ve adopted different drinks in huge waves. Tequila has swept across the US, as have Japanese and Mexican beers. Sake is on the rise in the UK.
Baijiu’s presence outside China remains very small, notes Staplehurst. “Getting a whole category understood and adopted by other people around the world is a challenge,” he notes.
But baijiu brands have started looking at international markets for growth. The category has a global CAGR of 4% (highly attractive in the struggling alcohol industry). In North America, the market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 6.8%, albeit from a very small base.
The spirit has started featuring on high end cocktail menus, as bartenders look for new ingredients and liquors.
And the next push? The World Cup. Chinese liquor giant Waliangye is using the event to expand its international sports marketing: embracing the ultimate global platform for brand marketing.
It’s not the first international push for Waliangye, which has been showcased around the world over the last few years.
Baijiu sales outside China are currently tiny. But, as Kantar BrandZ’s rankings show, it has some powerful brands: getting onto the world stage could reap rewards.
