‍One of Scotland's oldest whisky producers is tapping into the Chinese scotch market after securing a major distribution deal with one of China's food and beverage giants.

Loch Lomond Group, whose brands include Littlemill and Glen Scotia, announced it has entered into a partnership with China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp, also known as COFCO.

Loch Lomond said the partnership with the state-backed agriculture and food & beverage giant will pave the way for its whiskies to be sold across China.

Castle Li, general manager of COFCO Wine & Spirits, said: "COFCO is determined to use all of its resources, energy and strength to succeed in bringing the Loch Lomond and Glen Scotia Scotch whisky portfolios to the Chinese market and its many millions of consumers."

COFCO has an extensive network of 700 retail outlets and more than 1,000 sub-distributors.

Whisky sales in China have increased 12-fold in the last decade as the country’s rising middle class has developed a taste for single malt, with bottles making popular gifts.

Single malt exports to the world's second-largest economy amounted to 12.9 million pounds (16.7 million US dollars) last year, a 66-percent jump from 2015, according to the Scotch Whisky Association.

Loch Lomond, which was founded in 1814 and is based in West Dunbartonshire in Scotland, said consumers in China prized the authenticity of scotch whisky. The company’s Littlemill distillery was founded in 1772.

"COFCO is a very ambitious, energetic and innovative organization with a great team and exciting plans for the future, which matches our own aspirations, both for China and as a group," said Loch Lomond CEO Colin Matthews.

Whisky accounted for the vast majority of the 1.06 billion pounds (1.37 billion US dollars) in Scottish food and drink exports to Asia last year.