Japanese beer manufacturer Asahi Breweries has announced that it plans to become one of the world's top ten food companies, through acquisition and by expanding its business in China.

According to statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce, China's retail sales hit CNY340 billion during the "golden week" of Spring Festival 2010, which was an increase of 17.2% over those of the same period in 2009.

A leading Chinese alcohol company Wuliangye has published its annual performance report for 2009, stating that net profit attributable to the shareholders of its listed unit increased by 79.45% year-on-year, to CNY3.249 billion.

Beijing Dongcheng District Court has sentenced Beijing Tianzan Food Service Company to pay CNY120,000 to the Guizhou Moutai Distillery for selling fake Moutai liquor.

According to just-released February statistics from China's National Bureau of Statistics, the consumer price index was up by 8.7 percent over the same month last year.

Asahi Breweries and Marubeni Corp will jointly establish a joint venture with a Chinese enterprise to manufacture and sell wines. This is the first time for the Japanese food industry giants to enter China's wine sector.