China is a major producer but not a rum-producing country. It is the world’s third largest producer of sugar cane, with around 104 million tonnes produced in 2023 on an area of 1.26 million hectares (down from previous years but offset by higher yields).
Almost all of this production is used for food sugar, not alcohol. Unlike other producing countries (Brazil, the Caribbean), China uses very little cane to produce rum or biofuel. Juice and molasses are used to a limited extent to produce industrial ethanol or for food processing, but rum remains an imported drink, and cane distillation is not culturally established.
This is in fact a strategic choice: to feed rather than to produce alcohol. Sugar production is considered a food security issue in China, where consumption far exceeds domestic production.
The government therefore favours using sugar cane for sugar rather than for energy or alcohol production. However, historically, sugar cane has been used to produce fermented beverages in some southern regions of China, particularly during periods of grain shortages. Today, however, this use has almost disappeared in favour of a highly regulated sugar industry.