1.  Brief overview of the country of China (population, culture, income, etc)

2.  Economic statistics on China (GDP, unemployment rate, etc)

3.  Given these economic statistics, would marketing U.S. beer be
successful in China?  Would it be more beneficial for the U.S. to
export the beer into China or set up a new distribution center in
China?  How would China benefit economically from the U.S. setting up
a distrubition center in China rather than from the U.S. exporting
their product into China?

Apart from the fact that a serious attempt to answer these questions
would result in a economy study worth $2500 rather than $25, exporting
U.S. beer to China would, in my humble opinion, be a futile
undertaking. The Chinese have a famous beer industry of their own:
They learned modern bear brewing from the Germans, who fouded a
brewery in their former colony Qingdao in the late 19th century.
Qingdao Beer is now even successfully exported to other countries.
With all due respect: The Chinese are used to drinking good beer.
Exporting American beer to China is as useless as exporting it to
Germany, Belgium, or France. At the best, it would be a curio.

Regards,
Scriptor

Scriptor,

Thank you for your comment regarding my question.  Fortunately, since
this question is derived from an intro business class, a thorough and
complex answer is not necessary.  The emphasis should not be placed on
the product the U.S. is trying to sell, but on the economic aspects of
the question.  Change the product to McDonalds or KFC and then answer
the question - i'm not really interested in the specific "beer
industry", but more on the economic issues pertaining to international
business.

Thanks again for your help,
Beth