Despite China’s quick economic recovery on the back of strong domestic consumption, its wine sector has yet to roar back its former glory.
However, the latest official data has shown that the wine market has buffered blowbacks from Australia’s exit and Delta variant disruptions, signaling the market is stabilizing.
According to the latest figures released by China Association for Imports and Exports of Wine and Spirits (CAWS), the country’s wine imports totalled US$818.7 million in the first six months of the year, a moderate drop of 1.55% year on year.
Its import volume declined slightly by 1.38% to 211.8 million liters, compared with the same period last year.
The decline is mainly dragged down by bottled wine imports, the majority of China’s overall wine imports. Bottled wine imports dropped 2.46% in value to US$765.9 million, while its volume also decreased by 7.54% to 149 million liters.
Sparkling wines however grew by a stunning 79.9% to US$50.8 million, and Bulk wine imports also rose by 13.87% to US$52.7 million in the Jan-June period.
Despite the overall drop, the set of data suggests that the market has largely absorbed impacts from Australia’s exit since the country previously contributed to roughly 40% of China’s overall wine imports.
China in March officially imposed up to 218% anti-dumping tariffs on Australian wines for a period of five years, as relations between the two countries sank to historic low over a range of disputes from covid origin to trade and politics.
With Australia’s waning presence in Chinese wine market, clear winners have also emerged to replace Aussie Shriaz and Cabernet.
Here are the top 10 wine exporters to China in the first half of the year. Scroll down the pages below to read detailed analysis and data.
