(Yicai Global) July 23 -- Kweichow Moutai has regained its place as the most popular stock held by China's public funds, knocking insurance giant Ping An Insurance Group from the top spot as the high-end liquor maker came out swinging in a mostly bear market.

Some 549 domestic equity funds held a combined 33 million Moutai shares as of the end of the second quarter, worth CNY24 billion (USD3.6 billion) or 2.6 percent of the company, industry newspaper China Fund reported.

The last time the Guizhou province-based firm was the most held stock was 2012, after it held the position for seven straight quarters. Shares fell late that year after the national quality watchdog reported that many distillers were using excessive levels of plasticizer, which is toxic but often found in low quantities in liquor, in their spirits. A ban on extravagant spending by government officials also contributed to funds dumping stock.

Moutai gained more than 7 percent in the second quarter of this year, rising to over CNY731 (USD109) from less than CNY673 and making its shares the most expensive listed on the Chinese mainland as the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 10 percent over the same period. 

China's leading home appliance maker Midea Group was the second most common stock among Chinese public funds, with investors upbeat about quality players in the consumer sector. Ping An slipped to third.

Editor: James Boynton