(Yicai Global) March 7 -- The price of a special Lunar New Year edition of flagship liquor by China's leading producer Kweichow Moutai Co. keeps soaring in the market despite the traditional week-long Spring Festival ended nearly three weeks ago. Moutai 'baijiu' is China's most sought-after liquor brand and is highly favored by many even outside China.

Its price has soared to CNY3,000 (USD475) per bottle although its recommended retail price is CNY1,699, and is still out of stock, reported Beijing Business Today, citing wholesalers and distributors of the sorghum-based spirit in China's capital city.

Kweichow Moutai, the world's most valuable distiller, tried to take measures to prevent speculation in the market before launching the special edition on Jan. 29. It has adopted a sales model to combine online and offline retail channels and canceled regional distribution restrictions for distributors. The company even fined 10 dealers on Feb. 5 for artificially increasing prices for the first time this year.

However, even such measures failed to halt the price hikes. The company should play down its role in the media and at the market level, and put more products in the market, commented Cai Xuefei, a liquor marketing expert.

Based in the mountainous southwestern province of Guizhou, Moutai distilled about 42,700 tons of base spirit in 2017, up 9 percent year-on-year.

"Due to limited stock, our company were only allocated eight boxes of special edition Moutai baijiu this year, but they have yet to deliver them to us," said a distributor. "The price would be no less than CNY2,000 per bottle," he added.

Moutai has started selling special edition liquor to mark the arrival of the Chinese New Year. The prices of its special edition liquor for 2014 and 2015 soared to over CNY10,000. The 2016 and 2017 editions found buyers at buyers at CNY4,000 and CNY3,000 per bottle. It is the sought-after white spirit at official banquets and on important occasions. Late Premier Zhou Enlai toasted U.S. President Richard Nixon with a shot glass of the famous spirit at an historic state banquet welcoming him to the country in 1972.