Portuguese brewer Super Bock Group SGPS SA is looking for opportunities to sell premium beer in China as the market there grows, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency quotes Super Bock Group Chief Executive Rui Lopes Ferreira as saying in an interview last week that the Chinese market for premium beer is expanding because the COVID-19 pandemic means Chinese are buying more of it online, and because Chinese are developing a taste for it and are increasingly able to afford it.

“Our brand is positioned as a premium imported brand, and we can leverage the rise of this segment,” Mr Ferreira said.

He said the core business of Super Bock Group in China would remain in the southeastern and eastern provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang.

“We will keep focusing on these two regions and developing our brand as a premium imported brand and a respected brand in the Chinese market,” Xinhua quotes Mr Ferreira as saying.