(Yicai  Global) Feb. 21 -- Japan's oldest beer brand is officially returning to  the Chinese market after a ten-year hiatus with Anheuser-Busch InBev,  the world's largest brewer, acting as distributor. 

AB  InBev will be the exclusive distributor of Sapporo Beer in China for  the next 10 years, state-backed Jiemian News reported the Belgian firm  as saying, adding that the beer will be available in cans, bottles and  on tap. 

The  Tokyo-based firm aims to sell one million cases of beer in China by  2022 with a 330-milliliter bottle priced at around CNY10 (USD1.5), CNY5  higher than domestic beer on average.

Sapporo  is Japan's third-largest beer group in terms of shipments behind Asahi  Breweries and Kirin Brewery, which have already gained footholds in the  market. The Japanese brand has been the most popular Asian beer in the  US market for around 30 years. It also performs well in Southeast Asia  and Europe.

The  beer was once available in China as an imported good in the 1980s  before Sapporo set up a Chinese joint venture in 2000 to produce it  locally. The brewer quit the market in 2009 as it ran up losses and its  products failed to gain ground in the country 

China's  beer market has changed radically since then with Chinese consumers  increasingly favoring imported beer. China's beer imports increased  tenfold in the six years between 2011 to 2016. Beer imports for the  first 11 months of 2018 have surpassed those registered over 2017. 

New  middle-class consumers located in urban areas are the main target for  Sapporo as they have accrued knowledge of high-end beer and are willing  to try new brands, according to Fred Freire, AB InBev's China president.  Chinese consumers are increasingly curious about a beer's ingredient,  origin and history when choosing beer, which will boost Sapporo's  competitiveness, he added.

Editor: William Clegg