|
China's Wine Market Draws Wine Makers
HONG KONG -- China consumes the largest amount of wine in Asia and its market has great growth potential due to relaxed import duties and increased exposure to quality wines, an organizer of a major wine convention said Tuesday.
"It's a market that's quite new. It has great potential, and will grow more," said Dominique Heriard Dubreuil, chairwoman of the three-day Vinexpo Asia-Pacific, which kicked off Tuesday.
More than 500 wine makers from 28 nations were at the convention, and many were looking for ways to tap into China's budding taste for quality foreign wines.
China is still much less developed than longtime Asian market leader, Japan, which had wine sales of US$2.6 billion (euro2.04 billion) in 2004. China recorded sales of US$1.13 billion (euro0.89 billion) in the same year, even though it consumed 500 million bottles -- the highest volume in Asia. Lower prices accounted for the smaller sales figures.
China is a largely untapped market for exporters, with foreign wine makers making up only 5.3 percent of the total volume sold in 2004, according to a Vinexpo study. Imported spirits accounted for just 0.3 percent of Chinese consumption.
But Heriard Dubreuil said the Chinese are learning to be more discerning and knowledgeable about foreign wines, with demands for cognac and whisky particularly strong.
"About 10 years ago the market suddenly opened to wine. They were not very discerning about the taste," she said, adding that standards are improving because "Chinese wine makers have also improved their offerings to match international taste."
"You have seen how discerning they've been with food. There's no reason why they shouldn't be more discerning with wine," she said.
Wine consumption should grow about 7.8 percent annually from 1999 to 2009, Vinexpo's study said. By 2009, the country will consume 766.26 million bottles, it predicted.
Guillaume Jourdan, who represents a group of French wine makers at the fair, believed the Chinese market was "growing up slowly."
"The prices for the top labels are going up because people in Hong Kong and China are bidding the prices up," he said. "They're not buying to consume. It's a prestige and social thing."
Vinexpo was started in 1981 in France by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It's held in Bordeaux every odd year. It was held in Hong Kong in 1998 and Tokyo in 2000.
|