As soon as it hit 9 a.m. (local time), the "iMoutai (i茅台)" app was refreshed. It was to buy Moutai baijiu, considered China's finest liquor. It is the drink that President Lee Jae-myung paired with dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to China earlier this month.
Entering the shopping tab of the iMoutai app, the flagship product "Feitian (飞天) 53-degree" stood out first. The 2026 vintage was the cheapest at 1,499 yuan (about 308,000 won), and the 2019 vintage was the most expensive at 2,649 yuan (about 545,000 won). But before there was even time to decide which year to choose, the purchase window displayed a notice saying "Restocking at 9:05." The 2019–2024 vintages sold out immediately with no restock that day. It all happened in about 10 seconds.
At 9:05, the buy button changed to a "Restock in 5 minutes" button in three seconds. After a few more restocks at 5-minute intervals, just after 9:30, the day's inventory was gone.
It was the same for other products that went on sale starting at 9:09. Regardless of alcohol content or volume, they sold out one after another, and every product, including the New Year's edition with "Year of the Horse" commemorative packaging, vanished in an instant. The sellout pace was so fast that unless buyers set their desired products and quantities in advance and did an "open run," they could not buy, making it feel like scrambling for popular singer concert tickets.
Guizhou Moutai, a Chinese state-owned company, even developed a dedicated mobile app and began limited online sales because of waning popularity. Moutai is a symbol of Chinese baijiu and was once regarded as an investment asset due to its soaring price. But prolonged domestic sluggishness has greatly reduced existing consumers' expenditure capacity, and as a drinking-averse culture spreads among younger people who should have been new entrants to the liquor market, demand for Moutai is falling.
On top of that, in May last year the Chinese government issued a "no drinking" order for senior officials, banning alcohol at business meals and official events. State media even ran the warning phrase, "A single drink can cost you your post," and as a result, consumption of Moutai, once a "status symbol," plunged.
The wholesale price of Feitian Moutai was above 2,200 yuan (about 453,000 won) at the start of last year, fell to the 1,900-yuan range (about 391,000 won) in June, and dropped to 1,490 yuan (about 307,000 won) by year-end. On some liquor retail platforms, it even made waves by selling below wholesale. As a result, there are projections that Guizhou Moutai's revenue last year hit the lowest in 10 years.
In response, Guizhou Moutai played the cards of "online," "low price," and "limited quantity." It began selling limited quantities directly online at prices lower than existing consumer prices.
Since the 1st of this month, Guizhou Moutai has been selling popular products on its own app, "iMoutai." Sales start at 9 a.m. every day, and the most popular Feitian 53-degree is restocked every five minutes. Each person can buy up to 12 bottles. While the Feitian 53-degree 2026 vintage sells for 1,499 yuan on the app, large supermarkets price it at 1,600–1,800 yuan, meaning the app price is 100–300 yuan (about 20,000–60,000 won) cheaper than the market. However, buyers must verify their identity with a local ID at purchase, and foreigners cannot buy with a passport.
As the online purchase of Moutai sparked a "sold-out frenzy" and gained popularity, proxy buying services even appeared on secondhand transaction platforms. According to China Business News, proxy purchases are traded at 20–50 yuan (about 4,100–10,000 won) per order. In addition, the newly released "Year of the Horse" commemorative Moutai this month is being sold in the secondary market at more than 700 yuan (about 143,000 won) per bottle above list, making it a target for resellers. They are using technical tricks such as pre-access and auto-buying with automated tools like macro programs.
China Business News explained, "They line up multiple mobile phones side by side, run an automation program, and repeatedly refresh the purchase page to secure the product." It added, "These programs were originally workaround tools used for concert ticket bookings, not for buying Moutai, but as opportunities to realize arbitrage grew in the Moutai secondary transaction market, automation programs specialized for buying Moutai have even emerged."