China Could Become World's Largest Wine Consumer in Next Few Years, Industry Stalwart Says
Li Gong
DATE:  Mar 29 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
China Could Become World's Largest Wine Consumer in Next Few Years, Industry Stalwart Says China Could Become World's Largest Wine Consumer in Next Few Years, Industry Stalwart Says

(Yicai Global) March 29 -- China could become one of the world's largest wine consumers within the next few years, according to the general manager of the country's oldest and biggest winemaker.

China currently ranks 36th in the world in terms of per capita consumption, at 1.34 liters a year, Sun Jian, GM at Yantai Changyu Pioneer Wine Co., told Yicai Global in an interview. He expects that to rise to 1.53 liters by 2020 and bring about great changes to total wine consumption. The figure pales in comparison to the French, who are the biggest wine drinkers and consume more than 47 liters (about 63 bottles) a year, but China's population dwarves that of France.

International Wine & Spirit Research, which organizes the world's leading industry exhibition Vinexpo, forecast in March last year that China would become the second largest wine market by 2020. It predicted Chinese consumption would total USD22 billion, bumping the United Kingdom into third and gaining ground on the United States, which is set to be sitting comfortably ahead with sales of USD39 billion.

Despite the robust market, China's domestic winemaking is decreasing, Sun added. Last year, total wine production within the country slid 5 percent on the year to a million tons, while imports soared 15 percent to 550,000 tons. This shows that Chinese consumers lack confidence in domestic-made wine, which is likely due to a lack of understanding of the product, another industry practitioner said, adding that this sets goals for Chinese winemakers to go global and set up international brands.

Sun agreed, saying his company, which has a presence in such famous winemaking countries as France, Spain, Chile and Australia, could learn from one of the country's biggest smartphone makers Huawei Technologies Co.

"In many countries, Huawei's billboards can be seen from airports right through to downtown areas," he said. "When a company is able to occupy such a position in the international market, domestic consumers will start to recognize it."

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Keywords:   Changyu Pioneer Wine,HUAWEI,Wine,FOOD AND BEVERAGE,Alcohol