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China’s wine production to double over next five years
China will become the biggest wine producer within five years, according to The French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).
Boris Petric, an anthropologist with the research body, estimates that China will double its vineyard land over the next five years, surpassing Spain, France and Italy to become the world’s biggest wine producer, as reported by Wine-searcher.
China has been increasing its wine-growing surface area and is currently the world’s fifth-largest producer of wine. A growing number of wineries and chateaux are popping up across its wine growing areas in places such as the Ningxia region.
According to the Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), Spain had one million hectares under vine in 2012, followed by France with 800,000 hectares. While China’s vineyard covered 570,000 hectares in 2012, it has more vineyard hectares than the US.
Peric also mentioned that China’s strategy for growing vines is not down to a national love of wine.
“Firstly, it is for political reasons, in order to help poor regions that are struggling economically”, he said.
He believes that growing grapes will also help to prevent sandstorms in regions like Ningxia, which is suffering with desertification.
He also pointed out that China’s battle against alcoholism is another reason for planting vines as wine offers a lower alcohol percentage, which could be an alternative to the domestic white spirit Baijiu.
Let me get this straight…plant some vines in a desert to stop desertification, presumably using water from that very desert (do they know how thristy vines are?).
Planting for the wrong reasons I’m afraid!
interesting article to read.
I didnt know that china were the 5th largest wine producer in the world.
And chinese investors are investing massively in Bordeaux, as of today, they already own 45 vine estates in Bordeaux alone.
But with chinese investors coming in numbers in France, prices are going up and some french owner are trying to ride the wave and cash out while they can still do it, hoping to find some chinese with deep pockets who will pay huge money to acquire chateaux. And some owners are then trying to sell many times the market price their chateau.
I don’t see the point in saying such thing and let the readers believing that China will then produce more wines than France or Italy…
Yes China will probably have more vineyards than any country soon, but right now, on the 560,000 hectares, only 120,000 are used for wine production! Only the equivalance of Bordeaux vineyards surface…
Everyone forget that China produce more table grapes than wine grapes.
Just to give more reality to this article….