No 1. France
France returned to its throne as the top wine supplier to China last year, after Australia took over its position in 2019.
After Australia wines lost its lust when China finalised the anti-dumping tariffs last March, French wines became the top choice as the substitute for Australian wine with its well-established reputation in China.
In 2021, France exported US$753 million worth of wine to China, a 48.11% increase from the previous year. It has exported 115 million liters of wine to China, representing a 14.42% increase in export volume.
The strong demand for Bordeaux wine in China is a major driver behind the growth of French wine exports to China.
Around 54 million bottles, or around one in five exported Bordeaux bottles, were shipped to China in 2021, according to the Bordeaux Wine Council. Notably, Bordeaux alone accounts for 67% of all French AOP wines exported to China in volume and 72% in value.
France was also the biggest supplier of bottled wine and sparkling wine to China last year.
France dominated China’s sparkling wine imports with 72.8% market share. It exported US$82 million sparkling wine in 2021, a significant year-on-year increase of 84.64% from its previous pandemic loss. 2.5 million liters of sparkling wine was shipped to China, up by 43.35%.
For bottled wine, France took up 46.76% market share with 103 million liters and US$740 million worth of wines shipped to China, which rose by 14.54% and 48.22% respectively.
Along with Chile and Italy, the three countries now take up over 70% of China’s imported wine market share.
