Riding high on the strength of its brand, Tsingtao Brewery Co said it expects to maintain strong sales growth this year also, despite high raw material prices and intense competition.

The Shandong-based brewer was one of the few beer manufacturers that was able to withstand the double whammy of mounting costs and shrinking domestic demand last year.

Tsingtao said its 2008 profit rose 25.34 percent from a year before to 699 million yuan, on sales of 16 billion yuan, up 16.88 percent.