Cai Xuefei: "Wellness + Mild" Dual Tracks, Gujinggong Liquor Reshapes the New Ecosystem for Value Growth in Baijiu

Ask AI · How does Gujinggong liquor’s “staying true to fundamentals and innovating” show up in its dual-track strategy?

What is clear can be seen in the invisible; what is wise is considered before it takes shape. — Inscription

By | Zhique Marketing, Cai Xuefei

Edited by | Zhique Marketing, Ye Yangzi

Every March in Chengdu during the Chunshang Exhibition is a strategic window to discern industry trends. At the Chengdu Dacheng Hotel, Gujinggong liquor has, for 11 consecutive years, been building an immersive, stand-alone brand exhibition hall—one that has become a particularly distinctive calling card for Gujinggong liquor.

This year, Gujinggong liquor’s 2,000㎡ super exhibition hall not only brings together four major brands—Gujinggong liquor, Huanghelou liquor, Mingguang liquor, and Jiuyun liquor—but also covers six aroma types: strong aroma, light aroma, sauce aroma, Minglu aroma, gu aroma, and roasted麦 aroma. The “four products and six aromas” all-star lineup is the focus. But what truly becomes the “traffic driver” on site and sparks heated discussion are its two newly added strategic products in the lineup: Gujinggong·Shenli Wine _ (hereinafter: Shenli Wine) _ and Gujinggong liquor·Year-Grade Original Wine Lightly Aged 7 _ (hereinafter: Light-Aged 7) _.

With the debut of these two new products, Gujinggong liquor sends a clear message: as one of China’s “old Eight Famous Liquors,” it demonstrates strategic resolve to “stay true to fundamentals and innovate” during a period of deep industry adjustment. By taking a “health preservation + light-drinking” dual-track approach, it is reshaping the new ecosystem for value growth in baijiu.

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Health preservation leads

A famous liquor cross-genre move, setting a new high for the value of lujiu

When the baijiu industry, as a whole, faces pressure from high inventory, price inversions, and sluggish off-take, the lujiu category has instead surged against the trend. Data from the China Alcoholic Drinks Association shows that from 2020 to 2024, lujiu profits grew by nearly 200%, and in 2025 lujiu sales still maintain a counter-trend growth of 40%. It is expected that by 2030, the lujiu market scale may break through 200B yuan, accelerating its shift from niche segments to the mainstream stage.

Behind this explosive growth is a profound change in consumer logic. When “drink less, drink better, and drink healthier” becomes mainstream consensus, alcohol consumption is shifting from a social tool for “pleasing others” toward “pleasing oneself”—health and emotional care. Lujiu made on the “medicine and food share the same origin” principle perfectly matches people’s daily needs for gentle health cultivation and micro-wellness.

This Chunshang, health-preserving wines and wellness wines have become popular trends. Among them, Shenli Wine launched by Gujinggong liquor stands out further in the highly competitive lujiu market thanks to its differentiated advantages. What’s worth noting is that even before Shenli Wine’s official debut, it has already staged a “it’s hot before it’s shown” phenomenon. Before the exhibition begins, major local wholesalers in Anhui have basically completed contract signings, while wholesalers across the country’s first-tier cities have also quickly locked in cooperation. Within Anhui province, the market has basically achieved full coverage. Under the current environment where channels are generally cautious, this kind of heat reveals the strong momentum of famous liquors empowering a new track.

Looking at it in detail, Gujinggong liquor’s move into the health-preserving lujiu segment comes with three distinct advantages.

First, the quality foundation of a famous liquor. As one of the old Eight Famous Liquors, Gujinggong liquor injects centuries of brewing wisdom into Shenli Wine. Using Gujinggong liquor as the base wine, it fully inherits the “Jiuyun Liquor Method,” continues the “Fa Water, Quchi Pond, and Precise Storage of the Original High” eight key processes, and lays the flavor foundation of depth, richness, and long-lasting character.

Second, unique resources from its origin. Bozhou is not only one of the world’s distilleries of spirits, but also the “world’s pharmacy capital” and the largest national trading center for Chinese medicinal materials. The nine traditional Chinese medicinal ingredients selected for Shenli Wine—goji berries, Cistanche tubulosa (roucongrong), ginseng, red dates, longan meat, rhizoma polygonati (huangjing), prepared rehmannia root (shudihuang), and astragalus (huangqi), as well as gastrodia elata (tianma)—are all steeped in the vitality of the pharmacy capital. The fusion of famous Chinese liquors with authentic medicinal materials from the same origin creates a scarce core competitive advantage.

Third, support from scientific research platforms. Shenli Wine’s creation relies on Gujinggong liquor’s research strength with “three institutes and one room.” It uses a highly alcoholic soak-extraction and a gradient blending-and-adjusting process, effectively addressing the traditional pain point where the flavor and efficacy of health-preserving wines are difficult to balance, ensuring the liquor body is harmonious and comfortable—making it more stable and health-preserving in a more scientific way.

In my view, the launch of Shenli Wine not only enriches Gujinggong liquor’s product matrix, but also marks its strategic extension from traditional baijiu into the field of healthy living beverages, opening a brand-new growth curve for the company. Even more importantly, with the brand endorsement and quality standards of a famous liquor, Shenli Wine breaks the long-standing perception in the lujiu market of being niche and low-end, raises the value ceiling of the entire category, and further confirms Gujinggong liquor’s strategic foresight with its “famous liquor + health preservation” model.

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Breakthrough on a light route

Overturning tradition, leading a new proposition for “pleasing oneself”

If Shenli Wine expands the breadth of Gujinggong liquor’s categories, then the Light-Aged series digs deeply into the mainstream consumption trend. In the wave where “pleasing oneself” and slightly tipsy replace “pleasing others” and heavy drinking, the low-alcoholization of baijiu has become an irreversible trend. Data shows that in 2025 the market scale for low-alcohol spirits has already exceeded 74 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate as high as 25%, far above the industry average.

In this low-alcohol wave, Gujinggong liquor has long had its groundwork. As early as the 5th National Liquor Evaluation Conference in 1989, the 38-degree Gujinggong liquor won the “National Gold Quality Award” together with the 60-degree and 55-degree Gujinggong liquors, breaking the pattern where high-alcohol spirits monopolized the awards for famous liquors. In August 2025, Gujinggong liquor pioneered the “light-drinking” concept in the industry and launched the 26-degree Year-Grade Original Wine Light-Aged Gu 20, once and for all refreshing the market’s perception of the degree range for low-alcohol baijiu. And this Chunshang’s Light-Aged 7 further enriches the product matrix and completes a deep layout within the “light-drinking” track.

In terms of product appearance, Light-Aged 7 continues the key essence of the Gujinggong liquor·Year-Grade Original Wine Yuji Bottle design, reimagining the geometric disassembled Youlong totem with a fresh contemporary expression. Paired with a flowing light gradient glass craft, it presents a lightweight yet crystal-clear modern aesthetic. This sense of “lightness” in visual language fits today’s consumers’ aesthetics even more.

In terms of consumption scenarios, with its 26-degree low alcohol content, Light-Aged 7 precisely targets young consumers—baijiu newcomers, those who generally have a small amount of tolerance, and those pursuing a relaxed atmosphere in gatherings—as well as female consumers. Consumption scenarios naturally shift toward light social settings such as drinking alone with small sips, date nights for couples, and friend get-togethers. In essence, it frees baijiu from traditional social “missions,” returning it to the core of emotional value.

From an industry perspective, Light-Aged Gu 20 defines the track with an “industry first,” capturing the light-drinking mindset in consumers’ minds—setting the standard. Meanwhile, Light-Aged 7’s placement is a deeper penetration into the light-drinking track. For Gujinggong liquor, the strategic value of Light-Aged 7 lies not only in cutting into the light-drinking segment with 26 degrees—highly recognizable and distinctive—meeting new demands for lighter drinking, light socialization, and light living; but also in capturing high-frequency scenarios with a more approachable posture. This completes a systematic coverage of young consumers, female consumers, and light-drinking groups, turning “light-drinking” from a concept into a product matrix that is perceptible, can be shared more widely, and can be repurchased. This layout opens up a replicable practical path for the exploration of low-alcoholization in baijiu, with far-reaching demonstration significance.

03three

Stay true to fundamentals and innovate

Dual-wheel drive: Gujinggong liquor reshapes a new growth ecosystem

Health preservation and light-drinking, seemingly two independent tracks, are in fact two sides of Gujinggong liquor’s integrated “stay true to fundamentals and innovate” strategy amid industry change. While both uphold the fundamentals of famous-liquor quality, they also break traditional boundaries, building a brand-new growth ecosystem around consumers.

What is “staying true to fundamentals” is holding the quality bottom line and brand genes. Whether it is the centuries-old “Jiuyun Liquor Method” behind Shenli Wine, or the year-grade original wine quality core inherited by Light-Aged 7, their foundation is Gujinggong liquor’s deep accumulation as one of the old Eight Famous Liquors. This “fundamental” is reflected not only in the outstanding category control power demonstrated by the “four products and six aromas,” but also in the technological support provided by “three institutes and one room.” It is this solid industrial foundation that allows Gujinggong liquor to achieve “scatter in form, yet gather in spirit” when expanding across genres; no matter how the track is broadened, the quality main line remains consistent.

What “innovating” means is that Gujinggong liquor, led by consumer needs, proactively breaks through traditional baijiu boundaries and explores innovation. On the health-preservation track, it uses the resource combination of “famous liquor + pharmacy capital” to build a healthy health-preserving wine. On the light-drinking track, it precisely responds to young people’s preferences for relaxed and emotion-oriented consumption; through innovative practice at 26 degrees, it lowers the tasting threshold so that baijiu becomes integrated into everyday life for contemporary consumers.

More deeply, in addition to the “health preservation + light-drinking” dual-track ignition at this Chunshang, Gujinggong liquor’s “innovation” also lies in breaking the traditional single mode of exhibitions. By building immersive consumption scenarios that are enjoyable to taste, purchasable, and shareable—such as “Gujing Light-Drinking Health Club” and “Gujing DaJiu Shop”—it deeply integrates baijiu into new consumption demands. This not only unlocks entirely new wine-drinking experiences, but also, together with the lineup of classic famous-liquor products, builds an energetic new consumer ecosystem. At the same time, visits by online celebrity tastemakers and social-buzz-driven viral communication reach a broader audience, enabling a three-dimensional extension of brand experience and influence.

Staying true to fundamentals is the foundation for survival; innovating is the soul of development. Gujinggong liquor’s dual-track layout of “health preservation + light-drinking,” in essence, is a strategic elevation from “production-oriented” to “ecosystem construction.” Staying true to fundamentals ensures that the foundation for innovation is not lost; innovating, meanwhile, keeps widening the boundaries of value around new consumption demands. Through an ecosystem-based layout of “famous liquor + …,” Gujinggong liquor opens up new categories, reaches new groups of people, and becomes integrated into new ways of life—thereby building a future-oriented, more resilient and energetic sustainable growth ecosystem.

Not coveting the ancient, not clinging to the present—moving with change, and adapting to the mainstream. With its persistence in staying true to fundamentals and its exploration of innovation, Gujinggong liquor is leading the industry in a shift from traditional brewing toward healthier lifestyles, ushering in a new chapter of famous liquors that is more inclusive and more in tune with the times.

Author statement: Personal opinions are provided for reference only