Guadalajara, Mexico - Mexico plans to "conquer new markets" with its national drink, tequila, with projections showing that China will be the liquor's No. 2 importer in five years.

"If we all do our part, it is forecast that 10 million liters of tequila will be exported to China within five years," the president said during the celebration of the Tequila Regulatory Council's 20th anniversary in Guadalajara, the capital of the western state of Jalisco.

Jalisco is the birthplace of tequila, the Mexican national beverage, which is made from the agave plant.

The Chinese market would be the No. 2 export market, after just the US. Mexico exported 70,000 bottles of 100 percent agave tequila to China in August 2013, when 15 producers of the liquor visited the Asian country on a trade mission, Peña Nieto said.

The federal government is working constantly with tequila producers to certify the beverage's authenticity and protect the denomination of origin, which has been around for 40 years. Mexico's tequila industry exported more than 150 million liters of the iconic liquor in 2013, "the highest figure in history," Peña Nieto said.

"I want to recognize the success that the Tequila Regulatory Council has achieved in proudly developing this Mexican industry," said Peña Nieto. "Today, Mexican tequila reaches 120 countries on all the continents."

The Tequila Regulatory Council bestowed its Eagle in Flight award on the president for his support for the industry.