This Day, That Year

Item from Jan 19, 1992, in China Daily: Chinese fruit and vegetable juices are beginning to put the squeeze on foreign colas and inferior domestic beverages. ...

The beverage market in China had been dominated by drinks mixed with only flavoring, saccharin and coloring before 1980.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the iconic domestic brand Tianfu Cola had a stranglehold on China's soft drink market, with a 70 percent share. It was even exported to Europe and the United States.