Budweiser Brewing Co APAC Ltd. is planning to cut thousands of jobs this year as it looks to shrink costs, people familiar with the matter said, with the beer maker struggling with weak consumer demand in China.

Anheuser-Busch InBev on Thursday denied a report that thousands of job cuts were planned this year at its Asia-Pacific unit Budweiser Brewing Co APAC Ltd. Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Budweiser APAC,

Layoffs: Budweiser Brewing Co APAC plans to cut thousands of jobs in response to weak consumer demand in China, aiming for a 15 per cent reduction in operational costs.

The Asia-Pacific unit of brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to reduce operational costs by about 15% this year and comes after it cut 16% of some 25,000 employees last year, the report added, citing one of the people.

China will bear the brunt of the reductions as it accounts for more than 80 per cent of the group’s manpower

Budweiser Brewing Co APAC Ltd is planning to cut thousands of jobs in a move to shrink costs due to weakening consumer demand in China. China will also bear the brunt of the job cuts with it accounting for over 80% of the group’s workforce,