DRINK UP: Tsingtao beer street (ZHU ZHENG)

Green beer

Green strategies have formed part of many Chinese enterprises' core competitiveness. But many experts say a much more urgent priority is to find an appropriate business pattern for the green economy. "The Green economy won't be a slogan until we find a pattern," said Zhang Weiying, economics professor and dean of the Guanghua School of Management of Peking University.

Tsingtao Beer's progress in low-carbon operation plays an exemplary role for other Chinese enterprises. With efforts to cut energy consumption, in 2009, its comprehensive utilization rate of production wastes stood at 100 percent. The beer maker also led in the new round of industrial transformation and upgrading, through its technological innovation during the fermentation process of yeast.

In 2010, the Chinese brewer continues its low-carbon strategy as it has signed a low-carbon research agreement, the first of its kind in China's brewing industry.

Signed with the China National Institute of Standardization (CNIS) and China Quality Certification Center (CQC), the research agreement aims to find out how much greenhouse gas is produced by brewing beer and to help the company work out a more environmentally friendly production model.

Under the agreement, CNIS will monitor and analyze the greenhouse gas emissions of Tsingtao Brewery No.2 Factory, the pilot factory, before presenting a report on the emissions, and CQC will be responsible for reviewing the report which is expected to serve as a baseline for the company's carbon efficiency.

Years of hard work paid off. Tsingtao Beer has topped its rivals on the list of "China Green Companies Top 100" at the Annual Summit of China Green Companies 2010, held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province this April.

Liu Huadong, Executive President of China Entrepreneur Club, spoke highly of Tsingtao Beer. "All companies on the list like Tsingtao Beer are the most responsible, most far-sighted and most motivated [to develop the green economy]. Not only do they cut costs through developing business in a green way, but also lead in the transformation of the country's economic growth pattern," said Liu at the forum.

The brewer, yet, is not content with what it has made. It aims high. Over the next three years, the company will invest 124 million ($18.6 million) in projects for energy saving and emission control in the hope that its general energy consumption will be decreased by 4.5 percent annually.

Jin stressed that the company wants to introduce low-carbon management based on its own successful experience to other Chinese brewers. "Apart from emission reduction, our low-carbon management focuses much on transforming growth patterns to improve energy efficiency," he said. "It is a social responsibility we should take."