1 New Products 1 RIO Cocktail Launches New Products Recently, following the fruit-flavored Benza and the meal-pairing Qiangshuang, RIO has launched another batch of new products, including a new autumn-exclusive series, an upgraded classic series, and a limited edition tied to a popular TV drama. As RIO's first seasonal cocktail series, the new products—named Amber Osmanthus, White Moon Pear, and Golden Pomelo—are designed for autumn, when people are prone to catching colds. They are said to help regulate qi, resolve phlegm, promote fluid production, and relieve coughs. RIO Weixun Classic Upgrade Series This series is a full upgrade of the original Weixun S-can cocktails. The new design is rounder and cuter, emphasizing fruit over alcohol. Flavors have been adjusted: citrus and mint have been added to the original lemon, white peach, purple grape, and blue rose flavors, while the less popular blue rose has been dropped. The can size has changed from 350ml to a more moderate 330ml. RIO Spring Breeze Ten Miles Limited Edition In addition to the above, RIO has teamed up with the hit TV drama "Spring Breeze Ten Miles" to launch a limited edition. It comes in two flavors: Blue Rose Whiskey and White Peach Brandy. The packaging uses blue and pink as the main tones, with rose and peach blossom designs, giving it a fresh, artistic feel. The limited edition will debut on RIO's Tmall flagship store on August 15. 2 Lay's Launches New Product: Zhencui Fries Recently, Lay's launched a new product called Zhencui Fries. Unlike previous Lay's products, Zhencui breaks away from the chip form and adopts a fry shape, which is quite unique. It is understood that Zhencui Fries currently comes in three flavors: Classic Original, Seaweed, and Tomato. The fries are crispy and fragrant, each piece full and rich. For convenience and preservation, each bag contains five smaller packs, reducing the chance of the fries becoming stale if not finished at once. 3 Qingyilong Launches Fresh Xiang Qifeng Cake This new product uses selected high-quality eggs and adds xylooligosaccharides, which can selectively promote the proliferation of bifidobacteria in the gut, maximizing the needs of those who love desserts but worry about diabetes and obesity. The product is now available in KA, circulation, BC, and special channels nationwide. After its June launch, the company first selected quality customers in core regions for market operations, providing strong support and optimizing profit distribution across all links. It will then gradually promote it comprehensively to tap market share, with new and old products complementing each other to build a solid foundation for the brand. 4 Zhenwei Biological Co., Ltd. Launches Zhenwei Lactic Acid Bacteria Beverage In recent years, the health benefits of lactic acid bacteria products have been widely recognized. In line with this trend, Shanghai Zhenwei Biological Co., Ltd. recently launched a flagship product—Zhenwei Lactic Acid Bacteria Beverage. It is reported that this product promotes the absorption of nutrients such as protein, monosaccharides, calcium, and magnesium. It also helps improve the composition of intestinal flora, enhance gastrointestinal function, restore the balance of intestinal flora, form an antibacterial biological barrier, and maintain human health. The product is now fully available on the market. 2 Industry News 1 Canadian Brewery Sues AB InBev According to China International Beer Network, Minhas, based in Wisconsin and Calgary, has filed a lawsuit against AB InBev and MillerCoors, alleging that the two giants have jointly prevented other American beer brands from selling their products in Ontario, Canada. Minhas currently brews beer for several American brands under contract, and claims it has suffered huge losses due to the unfair competition by the two large groups. Minhas is seeking $200,000 in punitive damages through legal means. 2 Wens Investment Invests 1 Billion Yuan in COFCO Capital's Capital Increase Wens Co., Ltd. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Wens Investment plans to invest 800 million to 1 billion yuan in COFCO Capital's capital increase. This Monday, Wens Investment formally signed the capital increase and state-owned property rights transaction contract with COFCO Group, COFCO Capital, and other investors. Wens Investment will acquire from COFCO Group the equity corresponding to 19.94 million yuan of registered capital in COFCO Capital for 290 million yuan, and subscribe for 48.84 million yuan of newly increased registered capital for 710 million yuan. After the investment is completed, Wens Investment will appoint one director to COFCO Capital. 3 Moutai Plans to Establish Moutai Group Financial Holding Company According to China Securities Network, the board of directors of China Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd. held its first strategic decision committee meeting of 2017 and the fourth board meeting of 2017 at the Moutai International Conference Center. The meeting emphasized that to achieve the goal of "Thousand-Yuan Moutai," effectively integrate the group's financial resources, develop financial business, and make finance an important supporting force, the group plans to establish the Moutai Group Financial Holding Company. 4 COFCO Wine's Half-Year Revenue Grows 51.54% COFCO Wine released its 2017 semi-annual report. During the reporting period, COFCO Wine achieved revenue of 192 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 51.54%; net profit was -48 million yuan. Among them, high-end wine products achieved revenue of 32.0224 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 17.68%; mid- and low-end wine achieved revenue of 83.4221 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.18%. 5 China to Become World's Largest Dark Beer Market This Year According to Euromonitor International data, Chinese consumers are expected to consume a total of 264,000 kiloliters of dark beer this year, making China the world's largest dark beer market, surpassing the United States. The U.S. had taken the crown from the UK in 2013. Now, the growth rate of dark beer consumption in the U.S. and UK is only a fraction of China's. Euromonitor expects that by 2021, China's dark beer demand will more than double from current levels, reaching 658,700 kiloliters. 6 Sun Art Retail, Operator of RT-Mart and Auchan, Releases Financial Results Sun Art Retail released its interim results for the period ended June 30, 2017. In the first half, Sun Art Retail achieved turnover of 54.08 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.1%; profit attributable to shareholders was 1.757 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.7%. The announcement shows that Sun Art Retail's turnover mainly comes from sales of goods and rental income. Sales of goods generated 52.294 billion yuan, up 2.0% year-on-year, mainly from hypermarkets and e-commerce platforms; rental income generated 1.786 billion yuan, up 5.4% year-on-year, mainly from leasing shop space in comprehensive hypermarkets to operators. 7 Huishan Dairy Debt Restructuring Plan Unveiled; Over 10 Billion Yuan Missing Sparks Controversy Liaoning private enterprise Huishan Dairy, which suddenly faced a debt crisis in late March 2017, released a draft debt restructuring plan in early August. It is said to have gained support from some major creditors and may even receive approval from more than two-thirds of creditors. However, with basic facts unclear and over 10 billion yuan unaccounted for, some creditors strongly oppose the plan and cannot accept it. In short, the core of the debt restructuring plan is that Huishan Dairy will use all its assets, both inside and outside the system, to repay debts, with creditors forming a new company, but they must give up some equity in the new company to the current management. The plan states that under this scheme, the recovery rate for domestic and foreign creditors would be 14%-20%. The fundamental disagreement over the restructuring plan lies in inaccurate data. Huishan Dairy has over 13.5 billion yuan in funds whose whereabouts are unknown, and it needs to explain this to creditors. Huishan Dairy's debt restructuring plan is to first go through bankruptcy liquidation of all domestic companies, then have the Hong Kong-listed company set up a new platform domestically to take over all assets, in order to introduce strategic investors. This plan is relatively common; the earlier debt restructuring of Sinosteel was similar. Specifically, it mainly involves three steps: first, domestic bankruptcy reorganization, preferably resolving creditor claims through out-of-court settlement; second, establishing a new company, with Yang Kai holding 15% and creditors holding 85%, all assets placed under the new company, which is set up by the Hong Kong-listed company; third, either finding a "white knight" to take control of the new company, or selling the new company to the listed company, thereby allowing creditors to exit. This means that domestic assets would need to be loaded into the Hong Kong-listed company; but under current policies, this may be difficult to achieve. So how can the new company be sold to the Hong Kong-listed company? The plan does not specify. -END-