China will mark alcohol products with digital IDs to combat fakes amid the country's roaring alcohol trade, ministry officials said Friday.

Each bottle of alcohol, such as liquor, wine, or beer, could be traced through its unique digital ID during production and trading, said Wang Bingnan, director of the market operation department, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

Wang made the statement at the China Expo of Wine and Liquor in Zunyi, held from Thursday to Saturday in Zunyi City, southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Consumers would be able to trace China-made alcohol products online if the products they bought were genuine, which would make the system an effective way to combat fakes, said Wang.

The new circulation management system under the control of the MOC is expected to be completed in two or three years.

However, as alcohol companies will be free to choose whether they are part of the system, as there will be a considerable outlay for labelling equipment and relevant technologies, it may not cover all the alcohol brands, Wang said.

In the first half of 2010, the total production volume of alcohol in China surged 8.4 percent year on year to 25.80 million kiloliters with the total sales value reaching 201.5 billion yuan (29.77 billion U.S. dollars), up 25.7 percent year on year.

Go to Forum >>0 Comments