From hundreds of billions in stagnation to countercyclical growth, what did Jinpai do right?

Product Listing | China Visitor Network

Review | Li Xiaoyan

“Good wine, but don’t overindulge,” this classic advertising slogan that has accompanied the Chinese for 33 years has long become a vivid testament to Jianpai’s deep cultivation in the health wine industry. Amid the severe challenges of the “three overlapping periods”—policy adjustment in the Baijiu industry, consumer structure transformation and segmentation, and deepening stock competition—Jianpai has delivered an impressive annual report card with clear strategic resolve and solid product strength. According to the company’s “2025 Social Responsibility Report,” Jianpai’s revenue in 2025 is projected to reach 13.7 billion yuan, a 9.6% year-over-year increase, with the core brand Jianjiu surpassing 20% growth. Not only does this solidify its position as a hundred-billion-level enterprise in the industry, but through a dual-line layout of “health + herbal,” it has successfully broken growth barriers, becoming a countercyclical growth model during industry adjustments.

Founded in 1953 in Daye, Hubei, Jianpai has weathered over seventy years of storms. From a nearly shuttered county-level small distillery to a leading global health product enterprise covering more than 30 countries and regions, it has built three major business segments: health wine, herbal Baijiu, and traditional Chinese medicine. It has developed three core brands: China Jianjiu, Maopu Herbal Liquor, and Chizheng Tang, always adhering to the core philosophy that “all products and services must have health connotations and health value.” This long-term commitment has allowed Jianpai to stand firm in industry winters, achieving simultaneous growth in scale and quality.

Looking back at Jianpai’s development history, it has not been a smooth journey. In 2017, Jianpai, along with Moutai, Wuliangye, and Yanghe, joined the “Hundred Billion Club” of the Baijiu industry, marking a high point in its development. However, over the next seven years, the company’s revenue stagnated just below the hundred-billion mark, and Chairman Wu Shaoxun openly admitted, “We have been stagnant.” Deep self-reflection became the starting point for breaking the deadlock: Jianpai realized that traditional health wines are limited by their functional attributes and struggle to meet the social drinking needs of the public, with insufficient category awareness and a weak consumer base. The bottleneck of a single track forced Jianpai to step out of its comfort zone and reconstruct product and market logic.

Based on precise insights into consumer trends, Wu Shaoxun proposed a dual-line strategy of “health + herbal,” clearly positioning products: health wine returning to its functional roots, focusing on anti-fatigue, immune regulation, and other health needs; herbal Baijiu targeting social scenarios, balancing taste and health attributes, filling market gaps. This strategic adjustment precisely aligns with consumers’ current core demand for “healthy drinking, drinking healthy wine,” and also helps Jianpai break free from reliance on a single category, opening up new growth space.

The strong revival of the core brand Jianjiu has become the main engine of Jianpai’s growth. By 2025, Jianjiu successfully broke out of its niche with the “mild intoxication, cocktail, light burden” strategy. In the past two years, it has gained 9 million young users aged 18–30 and 4 million female users, completely breaking the “middle-aged and elderly exclusive” brand label. From classic models to lightweight small bottles, Jianjiu has upgraded its liquor, innovated packaging, and expanded scenarios, precisely targeting young consumers’ daily gatherings, home micro-drinking, and trendy cocktails. This has achieved both brand youthfulness and market expansion, with a 20% growth rate far exceeding industry averages, demonstrating the strong vitality of its core category.

As a key support for the dual-line layout, Maopu Herbal Baijiu’s quality upgrade and market breakthroughs have injected new growth momentum into Jianpai. By 2025, the Maopu series completed comprehensive quality iteration, with new clear bottles using five-year-old aged raw liquor of Qingsong, Nong, and Jiang aromas, infused with five herbal essences, and employing more than five patented technologies. With the differentiated advantage of “herbal empowerment and light burden,” it has stood out in the high-end Baijiu market. Thanks to its excellent quality, Maopu Herbal Liquor won the Gold Award at the 2025 WSEAC World Spirits Competition, gaining international recognition in the spirits industry. This not only enhanced Jianpai’s voice in the herbal Baijiu segment but also promoted Chinese herbal Baijiu onto the global stage.

Of course, from an industry objective perspective, Jianpai’s dual-line strategy still faces challenges: market education for health wine categories requires ongoing investment; competition in the herbal Baijiu track is intensifying; and Maopu’s nationwide expansion still needs to further improve brand penetration. However, Jianpai is steadily advancing its strategic implementation, relying on mature distribution channels and brand reputation to gradually resolve development difficulties, demonstrating a rational and pragmatic growth attitude.

Behind the performance growth is Jianpai’s relentless pursuit of technological R&D and quality control. The company insists that “without solid technological support, there can be no truly healthy products,” investing over 3% of annual sales revenue into R&D. It has built a professional R&D team of more than 420 members and cooperates deeply with over 20 research institutions domestically and abroad. As of December 2025, Jianpai had obtained 266 authorized patents, including 144 invention patents, with 28 technological achievements reaching international leading levels, and won 29 national, provincial, and industry science and technology awards. In 2025, nearly 100 scientific research projects were underway, focusing on both external empowerment and internal enhancement, applying research results comprehensively to product upgrades and quality improvements.

In quality management, Jianpai maintains strict standards. The company has established over 6,800 enterprise standards, many more stringent than national standards. The national standard “White Liquor Quality Requirements Part 15: Solid-State Qu Method White Liquor” led by Jianpai will be implemented in July 2026, setting industry benchmarks. In December 2025, Jianpai successfully passed the review for the National Quality Award, reaffirming its status after winning the award in 2021, and earning the “Oscar” of China’s quality field. From raw material control at 54 authentic medicinal herb supply bases, through farmer self-inspections, base sampling, and company inspections, to a full-process quality traceability system, Jianpai ensures product health and safety through comprehensive quality control.

Meanwhile, Jianpai integrates green development into its corporate strategy, practicing low-carbon initiatives through packaging innovation. In 2025, the company launched packaging upgrades for Maopu Herbal Liquor, reducing the product’s carbon footprint by 36.5% to 48.2% through process improvements; the lightweight bottle of Jianjiu, achieved after 18 years of technical research, reduced weight by 50 grams, saving over 9 million cubic meters of CO2 emissions annually. In its 19th consecutive social responsibility report, Jianpai fully demonstrates its commitment in industry development, technological innovation, green low-carbon initiatives, and social welfare, embodying corporate responsibility.

Looking ahead, Jianpai has long-term plans. Wu Shaoxun has outlined a 20- and 30-year development blueprint: by 2042, sales will surpass 80 billion yuan, and by 2053 (the centennial of its founding), it aims to reach 100 billion. In the current industry deep adjustment, these long-term goals are not wishful thinking but are backed by clear strategy, strong products, technological empowerment, and responsible management. Currently, Jianpai is consolidating its health wine foundation, exploring new tracks with herbal Baijiu, and extending its big health map through traditional Chinese medicine, with three major sectors working together to steadily move toward its long-term objectives.

From the brink of closure to a hundred-billion leader, from stagnant growth to dual-line breakthroughs, Jianpai’s development journey is a microcosm of China’s traditional liquor industry’s transformation and upgrading, as well as a model of perseverance and innovation under the trend of health-conscious consumption. Amid the “three overlapping periods” in the Baijiu industry, Jianpai’s 9.6% revenue growth and 20% core brand growth demonstrate the broad prospects of health-oriented liquor; its strategic layout of “health + herbal” has paved a path of differentiated, high-quality development.

Standing at a new starting point, Jianpai will continue to uphold its health mission, deepen herbal technology, optimize its product matrix, strengthen quality foundations, and constantly break through industry cycles. We believe that this health enterprise, with over seventy years of resilience, will continue to surpass growth barriers under the guidance of long-termism, steadily advancing toward its hundred-billion goal and contributing more to China’s health industry development.