New beverage market moves into top gear as demand surges

Chen Jiaxin, a post-90s game developer in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, takes time out to have a beverage every day. On most occasions, it would be a takeout bottle of pearl milk tea from yidiandian, a milk tea shop, but on other days it would be a cup of iced lemon tea in the afternoon with his friends at a nearby cafe.

Chen, who spends roughly 150 yuan ($21.8) on beverages every week, sees this as a daily routine and an occasion to mingle with his friends and catch up on the latest developments in the gaming sector and also topics of other interest.

Demand from Chen and a host of millennials is providing impetus to China's new beverage market, which attracted huge investments last year, with new growth seams opening up amid intense competition, said a new report.