Market insights – China

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.
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Overview: China – Australia’s number one export market by value

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

Reports listing

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Australian wine export market summaries

Australian wine export markets profiles including summary statistics on volume and value of total wine exports, and recent growth trends benchmarked against Australia's total wine exports.

Wine import market reports

Summarises wine imports for various markets by three categories - bulk wine, bottled wine and sparkling wine. The report assists Australian wine exporters understand trends in global wine trade.

China Landscapes

This Wine Intelligence report provides detailed analysis on the Chinese wine market highlighting consumption behaviour and attitudes towards wine among Chinese urban upper-middle class imported wine drinkers.

Insights into doing business in China

The following presentations, from the August 2018 Wine Australia Exporter Update, provide detailed and practical insights for wine exporters into how to sell wine in China – including understanding the changing route-to-market and particularly the critical role of e-commerce both now and into the future.

China/Asia-ready Workshops 2018

This series of video presentations is designed to give Australian wine exporters practical knowledge of how to succeed in doing business with China, including: the cultural differences between Australia and Asia (particularly China), what to expect in real business settings and how not to get 'lost in translation'.

Debra Meiburg's guides to the wine trade in China

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