(Yicai Global) Jan. 7 -- Several Chinese liquor makers' shareholders have recently donated some of their best-performing equities to their home provinces, a rare move that is expected to ease regional financial pressures.

Some of the target firms include Luzhou Laojiao, Kweichow Moutai, and Hengshui Laobaigan Liquor, according to their recent statements. Before this, it has been mostly Moutai that is known for such philanthropic arrangements.

Luzhou State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the actual controller of Luzhou Laojiao, will donate shares of three firms to Sichuan province's finance department, the listed company said in a statement on Jan. 5.

The deal includes almost 111,200 shares in Luzhou Laojiao, as well as a 10 percent of stake in the liquor firm's controlling shareholder Luzhou Laojiao Group, and a 10 percent stake in Luzhou XingLu Investment Group, it added.

What presumably makes the donations even more welcome is the sector's incredible stock price rally since last year. Luzhou Laojiao's equity price [SHE: 000568] has tripled over the past 12 months.

With these share transfers, distillers' capital market gains can be extended to provincial treasury departments, which is expected to ease their financial pressures, Xiao Zhuqing, a consumer goods marketing expert, told Yicai Global.

Kweichow Moutai’s controlling shareholder Kweichow Moutai Group transferred 50.2 million shares to Guizhou State-owned Capital Operation for free, the Guizhou province-based firm said in a statement on Dec. 30. The lot was worth CNY100.1 billion (USD15.5 billion), according to Moutai’s closing price that day.

The assets landed in a place they are likely to be appreciated. Guizhou province's general public budget revenue totaled CNY156.5 billion in the first 11 months of 2020, down 2.5 percent from a year ago, partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Its tax revenue fell 10.4 percent.

Hebei province-based Hengshui Laobaigan Liquor’s actual controller Hengshui Municipal Finance Bureau transferred a 10 percent stake to the Hebei Provincial Department of Finance, the distiller announced on Dec. 25, 2020.

Editor: Emmi Laine