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Shaoxing yellow rice wine varieties in a restaurant in Japan. [Photo/Zhejiang Daily]

Shaoxing yellow rice wine has become increasingly common in restaurants in Japan, local media reported in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province on April 26.

According to Dong Hai, head of the foreign trade department of the Shaoxing Yellow Rice Wine Group, about 40 percent of customers in a Chinese restaurant in Ueno, Tokyo, order yellow rice wine every day. The high-end varieties sold at this restaurant cost as much as 6,000 Japanese yen ($44.88) a cup.

Chinese restaurants in Tokyo also offer "refill" options that allow customers to have unlimited refills of yellow rice wine for 1,000 Japanese yen per hour.

A waitress serves yellow rice wine at a Chinese restaurant in Tokyo. [Photo/Zhejiang Daily]

Apart from Japan, Shaoxing yellow rice wine is also exported to other countries like Thailand, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. Shaoxing exports about 15,000 metric tons of its yellow rice wine annually.

According to official data, the export value of Shaoxing yellow rice wine rose to 110 million yuan ($15.9 million) following the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, an increase of 25.4 percent year-on-year. Exports to Japan alone were worth 60 million yuan, a growth of 52.3 percent.