Hong Kong's Wine Imports Surge in 2010

Hong Kong's wine imports went up 64 percent in the first seven months from a year earlier in 2010- 2011 fiscal year, said the Hong Kong government on Wednesday.

The wine imports in Hong Kong have been keeping surging after the city began to exempt duties on wine and liquor with an alcoholic strength of no more than 30 percent in February 2008.

The growth of wine business is attributed to increasing demand across Asia, especially from the Chinese mainland.

Government data showed that total wine imports into Hong Kong amounted to about 3.2 billion HK dollars (410 million U.S. dollars) and 4.6 billion HK dollars in 2008 and 2009, respectively, representing a year-on-year growth of 80 percent and 45 percent.

The growth in wine business has brought direct economic benefits to wine trading, distribution, auctions as well as other related economic activities such as catering services and tourism, said K C Chan, secretary for financial services and the treasury of the Hong Kong government, while addressing the legislative council on Wednesday.

In the last two years, about 850 wine-related companies were founded, bringing the total number to 3,550, with more than 5,000 persons newly engaging in the business, according to a survey conducted by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau in mid 2010.

Wine duty exemption is only one of the many contributory factors affecting the development of the wine-related economic activities, Chan added, who also attributed Hong Kong's external trade performance to cyclical changes in the domestic and global markets.

(1 U.S. dollar is equivalent to 7.77 HK dollars.)