Australian wine exports to China booming(2)
There were 6156 business migrants, which mostly includes the 163 visa applicants, to Australia in the 2007-08 year, up 3 per cent from the previous year, according to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
Figures for the 2008-09 year were not available yet. According to the latest estimates, though, the skilled migration quota will be cut by about 7000 people in 2009-10, to 108,000.
The immigration department said it ''takes serious all allegations of migration fraud and takes appropriate actions.'' A spokesman declined to comment specifically on the wine trade.
Melbourne-based Wayne Wong and Associates lawyer Leo Li confirmed that some clients used dealings in the wine business as proof of their Australian commercial activity but added that wine was not the only industry would-be clients are active in.
Mr Li said other businessmen sought business migration visas through dealings in the sheep skin, wool and herbal medicines industries.
If a client sought a visa based on a wine export business, the law firm ''strictly operates on our clients' instructions,'' he said. ''So when they instruct us they intend to do one business, we proceed on their instruction.''
Exporting visas
Wine exports, though, are gaining in popularity among Chinese businessmen seeking a product to export for the visa requirement, said a winemaker at a small Yarra Valley premium wine producer.
''Wine seems as good as any product. So they come along, they take the product,'' he said. ''Usually they'll pay for it. That's about as far as their interest in wine export goes.''
The winemaker said buyers are ''basically very affluent Chinese who want to relocate their families to Australia and want to have their children educated here.''
''They don't care whether they take a hit on a few hundred thousand dollars worth of stock. If they have to take it to the tip, they take it to the tip.''
''So there's certainly no business sense in what they're trying to do, it's just purely a scheme to get their residency,'' he said. ''But there is a genuine export market in China.''
The Yarra Valley winemaker, as with nearly all the winemakers interviewed for this story, said they do export their products to China through legitimate agents.
Gary Williams, general manger at central Victoria-based McPherson Wines said his firm's economically priced wines with high export levels attract a lot of interest.
As with the small vineyard in Yarra Valley, McPherson has extensive export ties to China through proven channels.
An oversupply of Australian grapes, brought about by excessive plantings in recent years, has left some vineyards with little choice but to consider the offers.
However, smaller wine makers should be cautious to not get ''too carried away'' with offers that may turn out to be one-off events, Mr Williams said.
''Because ultimately you want longevity and sustainability,'' he said.
Real demand
Australian winemakers say they generally have little trouble discerning genuine interest from dubious requests for wine that could be used to build the case for a business visa.
Most local wine makers are keen to establish long-term relationships with Chinese buyers, as the market for western wine expands.
A NSW winery last month said a Chinese customer had called, enquiring about wine, in what appeared to be a genuine expression of interest.
''They said they are setting up a company, had the right contacts. But reading between the lines it seemed very suss.''
