Italy steps up efforts in China

Italian wines are gearing up to increase their market share in China as trade organisations step up promotional efforts and move to secure Chinese trademark rights.

Vinitaly International, for instance, has adopted a series of measures including organising roadshows in Chinese cities, introducing a certification course for wines as well as disseminating italian wine educators across China to promote italian wines, China’s English newspaper China Daily wrote.

Recently, Michele Scannavini, president of the Italian trade agency Vinitaly International, announced that the Italian government plans to invest equal amounts of effort in the US into developing the “Made in Italy” brand as in the Chinese market, according to the newspaper. Italy intends to invest €20 million in Italian wine promotion and communication in the US.

Meanwhile, the Chianti Classico Wine Consortium has standardised its official Chinese translation for ‘Chianti Classico’ as ‘古典基安蒂’ and applied trademark for the translation. The wine organisation is also expected to receive trademark rights for its famous Black Rooster emblem and its denomination date.

Italian wines’ market share in China – less than 6% – is still small. Its wine exports to China, however, grew in both value and volume terms last year. China imported 25.78 million litres of bottled Italian wines worth about US$114.24 million in 2016, representing an increase of 38.4% in value and 14% in volume, based on figures from China’s Association for Imports and Exports for Wine & Spirits.