China’s state funds ditch Kweichow Moutai as growth stalls

China’s state-backed funds are pulling out of Kweichow Moutai, reports the South China Morning Post. The move adds to the woes of the nation’s biggest baijiu liquor maker whose stock has lost more than 40% from its peak five years ago.

Central Huijin Investment, a unit operated by China’s sovereign wealth fund, and China Securities Finance were no longer listed among Kweichow Moutai’s top 10 shareholders at the end of the second quarter, according to the liquor maker’s first-half report. Profits for the distiller fell by 1.95% from a year ago in the period, marking the first decline in interim results since it was listed in Shanghai in 2001.

The unwinding underscores how some of the nation’s most influential investors are turning cautious on Kweichow Moutai and the baijiu industry, once considered favourite bets for traders and emblematic of China’s consumer sector.