Visitors appreciate Moutai, China's national liquor in the 2016 China International Alcoholic Drinks Expo held in Luzhou, Sichuan province.[Photo by Huang Zhiling/chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2016 China International Alcoholic Drinks Expo (CIADE), sponsored by the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, kicked off in Luzhou, Sichuan province on Saturday.

The five-day event has drawn more than 700 firms from 25 countries and regions in the world.

"They include those from France, Australia, Italy, Canada, Georgia, Spain and Germany," said Wan Zhongshun, an information officer from the Luzhou municipal government.

The CIADE, the only international, professional liquor exposition approved by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, has been held each year since its debut in 2006.

The CIADE held in 2015 drew 512 firms from 20 countries and regions in the world and transactions amounted to nearly 50 billion yuan ($7.7 billion).

Speaking in the International Alcoholic Industry Development Forum held in the wake of the opening ceremony of the CIADE on Saturday, Sichuan governor Yin Li said his province has nearly 350 large liquor producers. Its liquor output registered 3.7 million kiloliters in 2015.

Liquor from Sichuan which is China's largest liquor-producing province is sold in more than 60 countries and regions in the world, he said.