The End of the Big Chinese Banquet Is Reshaping Drinks Consumption

For decades, one of China’s biggest alcohol consumption occasions wasn’t the bar or the restaurant – it was the banquet.

From weddings and milestone birthdays to baby celebrations and housewarming feasts, lavish banquets have long been woven into Chinese social life. They were also one of the drinks industry’s most dependable sales channels, generating steady demand for everything from baijiu and Cognac to imported wine.

That tradition is quietly changing.

As Beijing continues to discourage extravagant celebrations and households tighten discretionary spending amid a slowing economy, banquets are becoming smaller, less frequent and less lavish. Guests are drinking less, hosts are spending less, and wine merchants who once relied on banquet orders are watching one of their most important sales channels steadily contract.

A quieter banquet culture

The shift is being driven by both policy and changing consumer attitudes.

Over the past two years, state media and local governments have intensified campaigns promoting simpler celebrations and discouraging excessive banquet spending. In April, an article republished by official news agency Xinhua criticised the growing financial burden that frequent banquets place on rural households.

“On one day alone, I had to attend 11 banquets,” one resident from western China was quoted as saying. “I couldn’t make them all, so I transferred the gift money through WeChat instead. I ended up giving away more than RMB4,000 (US$588) in a single day.”

Some local governments have gone further by introducing formal restrictions.

Yinjiang County in Guizhou Province now encourages residents to “hold weddings simply, simplify funerals and avoid unnecessary banquets,” while also limiting Caili (彩礼) – the betrothal gift or asset a man usually gives to the bride’s family- banquet sizes and the duration of funeral ceremonies. According to official figures, more than 1,000 weddings and funerals have been simplified since 2024, reducing the average number of family banquets by more than two-thirds.

In neighbouring Guangxi, more than 3,000 households have signed pledges supporting campaigns against lavish celebrations, helping reduce average banquet spending by 30%.

Yet merchants say government policy tells only part of the story.

Consumers themselves are becoming more selective about whom they invite, how much they spend and, increasingly, whether alcohol deserves a prominent place at the table.

The banquet business is drying up

“The wedding and birthday banquet business has been terrible over the past two or three years,” said Pan Liu, Marketing Director at Wintek (Shenzhen) Import & Export Ltd.

Restaurant operators have told him that banquet bookings have fallen sharply. Even when events go ahead, they are typically smaller, less extravagant and involve fewer drinkers.

Pan recently secured a wedding order worth just over RMB10,000 (US$1470).

“It was really a matter of being in the right place at the right time,” he said. “The groom happened to be the son of one of my father’s former colleagues and worked for a large IT company, so the wedding was relatively large.”

“Nowadays, even RMB10,000 in banquet sales is considered a good order.”

Zhang Jiarong, General Manager of Rongpu Wines in Guangzhou, remembers a very different market.

“A decade ago, orders worth more than RMB10,000 were commonplace,” he said.

One banquet alone generated more than RMB200,000 in sales after the host selected Hennessy Paradis, Martell Cordon Bleu and premium imported wines.

“Back then, banquet business was one of our biggest sales channels. Customers kept referring us to their friends because our prices were competitive and our service was reliable.”

Today, he estimates banquet sales have fallen to roughly one-third of their peak.

Guests are drinking less

Even where banquet traditions remain strong, merchants say alcohol consumption has changed noticeably.

“People used to buy better wines,” Zhang said. “Now they just want something to serve.”

“And compared with a few years ago, far fewer guests actually drink.”

The reasons are both cultural and practical.

China’s sustained crackdown on drink-driving has fundamentally altered drinking habits. Since tougher penalties were introduced in 2011 – including criminal charges for drunk driving and licence revocation for repeat offenders – many consumers have simply stopped drinking whenever they expect to drive.

At the same time, weaker consumer confidence has encouraged hosts to trim banquet budgets.

“People have less money in their pockets,” Pan said. “Hosts are much less particular about what alcohol they serve, and guests are no longer as enthusiastic about drinking heavily as they were during the boom years.”

Wu Yonglei, General Manager of Xiamen Fond Wine, has witnessed the same trend.

“In the past, Cognac at banquets was almost always XO,” he said. “Now many hosts have switched to VSOP or whiskies priced at around RMB200.”

“When the economy slows, consumption naturally follows.”

Wine is becoming optional

Among all alcohol categories, imported wine appears to be losing the most ground.

Among all alcohol categories, imported wine appears to be losing the most ground.

“A decade ago, some banquets in Guangdong didn’t even serve baijiu – they only had imported wine and spirits,” Pan recalled.

“Today, wine has become optional, while sauce-aroma baijiu is almost essential.”

Wu believes imported wine has gradually lost the prestige it once enjoyed.

“Twenty years ago, imported wine was fashionable,” he said. “Today consumers view it much more rationally.”

He argues that an increasingly crowded market, inconsistent product quality and a confusing array of brands have weakened consumers’ confidence.

“Many people simply choose not to serve imported wine at all, or they buy inexpensive labels they recognise.”

That marks a significant shift for a category whose rise in China was closely tied to banquet culture.

For nearly two decades, weddings and other celebratory occasions helped fuel the country’s imported wine boom. As those occasions become smaller, simpler and more restrained, distributors are discovering that one of their most dependable sales channels is quietly disappearing.

The banquet itself isn’t disappearing – but the way Chinese consumers celebrate, spend and drink is changing. And with it, so too is one of the foundations of China’s alcohol market.