Market insights – China

China – Australia’s number one export market by value

China is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing markets for imported wine. With a population of 1.38 billion in mainland China, a burgeoning middle class and modernising consumers, it presents enormous opportunities for Australian wine brands and businesses.

Australian wine has experienced extraordinary growth in exports to China over the last decade. The implementation of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement in 2015 gave impetus to an already strong market.  Mainland China is the number one destination for Australian wine exports by value and has grown from $73 million in 2008 to $846 million (FOB) in 2017. Hong Kong has also shown strong growth over that timeframe, increasing from $36 million to $118 million, while Taiwan has increased from $10 million to $13 million.

Australia is outpacing key competitors in the growth of wine exports to mainland China. It is ranked second behind France in market share, but number one in the average price of bottled wine among the five biggest importers.  

Australian wine is well regarded in China. Research conducted by Wine Intelligence on behalf of Wine Australia shows that the number of Australian wine drinkers in China has doubled since 2013, and Australian wine has a very positive image among Chinese wine consumers.

Chinese tourism is another growing opportunity for Australian wine, with the number of Chinese visitors to Australia more than doubling over the past five years to well over 1 million in 2017.

Image source: Adobe Stock

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Debra Meiburg's guides to the wine trade in China

These reports are comprehensive guides to the wine trade in the main Chinese markets