Japan's Asahi Breweries is planning to build a new brewery in Beijing, through its Chinese joint venture, in response to an anticipated rise in consumption with the onset of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Beijing Beer Asahi - jointly owned by Asahi, trading house Itochu Corp and a Chinese partner - will launch the new brewery to replace an existing facility operating in the city. It will cost close to ¥5 billion and produce 100,000 kiloliters of beer a year.

The plant will start operations from the spring of 2004.

Asahi currently operates five beer plants through joint ventures in China, which produced a total of 510,000 kiloliters last year.