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Mass exodus: Chinese investors back out of Bordeaux
A long line of Chinese investors who bought up Bordeaux châteaux over the last two decades are now selling up as the reality of ownership and continued investment hits home.
Château Latour Laguens was among the first Bordeaux vineyards to be bought by a Chinese company in 2009. Its Chinese owners purchased the estate with the hopes of bringing in handsome dividends on China’s domestic market.
More than 200 other estates in southwestern France followed. Between 2010 and 2016 alone more than 100 estates in the region were sold to Chinese investors.
However, as quickly as investors bought in to the region, they are now selling up.
Château Latour Laguens is now up for auction with a starting price, sans vines, of as little as €150,000.
In May, the French authorities confiscated nine châteaux acquired in the 2010s by Chinese magnate Naijie Qu, founder of the Haichang conglomerate, after he was convicted of corruption.
In 2022, the head of Hong Kong’s SGV Wines sold four châteaux — Golden Rabbit, Imperial Rabbit, Great Antelope and Tibetan Antelope — back to French investors.
About 50 Bordeaux châteaux are currently up for sale, according to South China Morning Post. Buyers are so scarce that some châteaux are selling for less than half their purchase price.
Beijing’s decision to impose strict controls on capital have put investors in a tricky spot, with many struggling to get their money out of China. This, coupled with an overproduction of Bordeaux wine, have fuelled the mass exodus from the region.
Some Asian investors are now looking to other French regions. Joe Tsai, the billionaire chairman and co-founder of Chinese ecommerce platform Alibaba, has reportedly joined a consortium acquiring vineyard parcels in Burgundy, for example.
The Taiwanese-Canadian businessman is reported to be eyeing up plots in Gevrey-Chambertin, the largest wine-producing village in Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. Read more here.
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