Australian wine exports to China booming(1)
Australia's booming wine exports to China are generating an unintended residue: a small but growing use of such sales to secure Australian residency.
Winemakers and immigration lawyers say Chinese business people are targeting deals with the wine industry as one way to obtain proof of a commercial relationship with Australia - one of several boxes potential skilled migrants seek to tick to get the nod from immigration officials.
''We field a call every two or three days from China wanting to purchase red wine very inexpensively,'' said a manager from a mid-sized family winery in NSW, who declined to be named.
Skilled immigration quotas have become controversial in recent months as rising unemployment levels prompt unions and other groups to call for deeper cuts in the annual intake. The removal of some professions from the priority list has also fanned anger among overseas students, many of whom enrolled in related courses in a bid to fast-track access to Australian residency.
While the number of potential migrants from China seeking to link wine purchases to a residency visa is believed to be small, the interest is on the increase. Wine trading is an increasingly popular occupation choice for Chinese visa-seekers, one Melbourne-based lawyer said.
''I've heard a lot of people saying we've exported business and wines overseas, hence, we want to come to Australia under a business visa,'' the lawyer said, noting he only had initial consultations with such clients and represented none such clients himself.
Under scrutiny
Vermont South-based immigration consultant James Tan said he has seen an increase in business migration clients recently, although of the five immigration cases he's seen in the past month, only one is considering entering the Australian wine export business.
Mr Tan cautioned that the business skills visa is the most expensive and the most difficult to file, with the Australian government scrutinising the business plan carefully.
Nonetheless, one of the requirements of the so-called 163 visa is that the applicant, along with his or her partner, had ''net assets in a qualifying business of $200,000 for at least two of the four fiscal years immediately before you apply.''
No one interviewed for this story disputed the considerable interest in Australian wine from China, the great majority of which is legitimate, reflecting the rising appetite for Western wine among China's burgeoning middle class.
In the year to June Australia exported 25.1 million litres, up 84.3 per cent from a year earlier, according to the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation.
Case by case
However, the trend of Chinese buyers, with no experience in wine marketing, seeking one-off orders of cheap Australian wine continues a pace.
Winemakers say a favoured target for such purchases is inexpensively priced wines, such as those from the Victorian regions of Riverina and Sunraysia.
Numerous Australian winemakers report receiving a steady trickle of requests for samples of their wine from Chinese buyers.
''We are an import and export company in China,'' read one recent email to a Victoria-based wine grower, viewed by BusinessDay.
''We are interested in your wine. We need a larger quantity. Please send me the information about your product, the price...and your company profile if you receive the email.''
The winemaker interpreted the buyer's interest to be visa-related rather than merely commercial in intent.
Other winemakers report Chinese businessmen appearing at cellar doors for tastings, followed by immediate offers to purchase bulk quantities.
