13.12.2010 - Vinexpo news selection
In the first five months of 2010, still light wine imports into China were up by 70%. The market has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 19, 5% in the last five-year period. China entered the top 10 ranking for French still light wine exports by volume in 2009; by comparison, only five years ago in 2004, it did not even make into the top 20. Bottled imported still light wine hit the 10m-cases mark in 2009, up over 50% versus 2008, at 6.4m cases.
Behind this extraordinary growth is the will of the Chinese Government to encourage healthier alcoholic drinks consumption, the fact that drinking in Chinese culture is socially accepted and China was also one of the first economies to recover from the global crisis and grew strongly again, by around 10% in 2009. (IWSR / November 2010)