Recently, the Chinese Central Military Commission issued a business hospitality temperance notice which could be quite demotivating to many meeting goers. According to the notice, the military hospitality for business activities
- should not post or hang slogans,
- should not organize special entertainment performances,
- should not arrange banquets,
- should not serve high-end meals,
- should not distribute souvenirs,
- should not use local hotel accommodation,
- should not equip military hostels with luxurious household items,
- and, should not serve liquor.
Affected by the “Prohibition”, China’s liquor stocks fell across the board. The famous Maotai plunged 5.5% in one day, losing 12.5 billion RMB. How big would the impact be in a country where hospitality is the tradition and spending taxpayers’ money on business entertainment is the norm?
To find out the answer, the Beijing-based Sohu, a Chinese internet company, conducted an online survey and received more than 134,000 responses. Only 7% of the responders believe that the military “Prohibition” will be truly effective.
Among the survey questions:
How much may the “Prohibition” affect China’s high-end liquor market?
- The influence will be minimal, 62%.
- Not sure, 20%.
- Significant impact, 18%.
How to make the “Prohibition” more effective?
- The local governments should also ban liquor in business entertainment, 38%.
- Introduce punishment measures, 28%.
- Set up reporting hotlines, 20%.
Who will be the biggest beneficiary from the “Prohibition”?
- The ordinary people, because the loss in high-end liquor market may force the manufacturers to turn to low-price liquor production, 40%.
- The wine industry, 31%.
- Second and third tier liquor brands, 29%.
Will the military “Prohibition” truly save taxpayers’ money?
- Nothing will really change. The local governments are still serving expensive alcohols in business entertainment. Just wait for a while and everything will go back to the same, 79%.
- Wine will replace liquor and it is equally expensive, 14%.
- “Prohibition” will truly save taxpayers’ money, 7%.
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