Chinese liquor stocks jumped on Thursday ahead of Lunar New Year, with retailers reportedly building inventories of spirits typically consumed at family reunions and corporate banquets. Shares of Kweichow Moutai – China’s best-known baijiu maker and the most valuable stock on the mainland market – climbed more than 9 per cent in afternoon trading to 1,445 yuan, their highest level in over a month. The stock closed the session 8.6 per cent higher at 1,437.72 yuan. AdvertisementSmaller peers also rallied, with Jinhui Liquor and Jiugui Liquor both rising by their 10 per cent daily limits to close at 21.54 yuan and 56.85 yuan, respectively. “The main driver was a sharp rise in Kweichow Moutai, the sector bellwether, which lifted other liquor names,” said Kenny Ng Lai-yin, a strategist at Everbright Securities International.