China has granted formal geographical indication (GI) protection to 70 Bourgogne wine appellations, extending legal safeguards from prestigious Grand Crus such as Montrachet to village-level names including Pommard and Côte de Nuits-Villages.
The move marks the most extensive recognition Bourgogne has received in the Chinese market and signals stepped-up cooperation between China and France in viticulture and agriculture.
On 5 December, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued a notice approving protection for 70 geographical indications from Bourgogne, including Montrachet, Richebourg, Clos de la Roche, Chablis Grand Cru, Petit Chablis, Pommard and Côte de Nuits-Villages. The protection takes effect immediately.
All approved indications fall under wine-related geographical indications. The inclusion of famed names such as Montrachet and the Chablis Grand Crus marks a major expansion of Bourgogne’s legal safeguards in China.
The timing of the announcement coincides with Macron’s visit. Also on 5 December, China and France released a Joint Statement on Agricultural and Food Cooperation, which affirmed the two countries’ intention to “continue active cooperation in viticulture and winemaking.”
The statement highlighted the progress made since May 2024, when—during Macron’s previous state visit—the CNIPA, France’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, and the French National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO) renewed their cooperation agreement on the recognition and protection of agricultural and food geographical indications. Both heads of state welcomed China’s recognition of 70 Bourgogne GIs.
China’s protection of EU geographical indications is rooted in the Agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the European Union on Cooperation on, and Protection of, Geographical Indications. Negotiated over nearly a decade, the agreement was formally signed on 14 September 2020. The first batch of roughly 100 mutual GI recognitions on each side came into force when the agreement became effective on 1 March 2021.
The China–EU GI mutual recognition framework has brought multiple benefits for imported products. Under the agreement, EU GI products gain automatic legal protection in China without requiring individual applications, enjoying the same level of intellectual property protection as domestic products. This significantly lowers market-entry costs and makes enforcement against counterfeits far easier.
At the same time, GI protection enhances brand value and consumer trust by reducing the risk of counterfeit products. Consumers can identify authentic goods through the GI designation, strengthening confidence in imported wine and food products.
Today, 80 of the 84 Bourgogne PDOs are protected. The remaining four still require legal and administrative procedures and are expected to obtain protection soon.
“The registration of the vast majority of our appellations is a major step forward in protecting our wines in China,” said Laurent Delaunay, Co-President of the Bourgogne Wine Board.“This is an important and highly symbolic milestone, providing us with legal clarity and security in a market where the full potential of Bourgogne wines has yet to be explored. It is the result of long-term work, complex both legally and diplomatically. I would like to thank the teams of the Bourgogne organizations, the INAO, and especially the French Embassy in China for their efforts and support—along with, of course, the Chinese authorities, and in particular the CNIPA, with whom a genuine spirit of cooperation has been established. For me, this project stands as a model of a win–win relationship.”
Bourgogne Exports To China
Bourgogne’s presence in Mainland China has grown significantly in recent years. Over the past 10 years, exports of Bourgogne wines have doubled in volume (1.4 million 75cl bottles in 2015 compared with nearly 3 million in 2024). After steady growth up to 2022, revenue has stabilized, in parallel with the democratization of consumption toward lesser-known Régionale and Village PDOs.
For now, the year 2025 confirms these trends, with a slight increase in volume over the first nine months (+1.4% vs. the first nine months of 2024), reaching nearly 2.46 million bottles exported. Revenue shows a modest decline (–1.7% vs. the first nine months of 2024), standing at just over €46.7 million.
French wine GIs currently protected in China include major names such as Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac, Pomerol, Pessac-Léognan, Rhône Valley, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Champagne, and Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence. Other EU wine GIs such as Barolo, Asti, Rioja and La Mancha are also covered under the agreement.
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