Baijiu makers see revenues rise on strong middle-class demand

Other higher-end daily staples see robust sales on rising incomes

Drink a baijiu toast to the new year. China's consumer staples stocks, led by makers of the fiery Chinese liquor, are helping drive stock gains this year as sales prospects get rosier.

As China's markets endured a year of turmoil amid concerns over the economic outlook, consumer staples was the only sector on the country's key stocks exchanges with positive returns last year. Those businesses, which sell things for daily use, surged with average revenue in fiscal 2017 forecast to grow three times as quickly as their global peers.