China to consume a bottle of wine per person a Year

HONG KONG — Wine consumption in China is growing at such a fast rate that the country is predicted to drink more than one bottle per person in 2014, a news report said Friday.

The amount of wine bought doubled between 2005 and 2009 and is set to rise by another 20 per cent by 2014 to become the world's sixth-largest consumer of wine, according to a survey.

A total of 1.38 billion bottles of wine are likely to be consumed in 2014, the survey said. China's population last year was estimated at 1.34 billion.

The survey by wine exhibition organizer Vinexpo was published in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post. Vinexpo chairman Xavier de Eizaguirre told the newspaper: "Nothing can stop China."

He predicted China could become one of the top three wine consumers in the next decade as incomes rise and wine becomes more popular.

Vinexpo's annual Hong Kong trade fair is scheduled to run in June.

In 2009, 1.1 billion bottles of wine were sold in China and Hong Kong, more than double the 2005 figure. Globally, wine sales for 2009 were 31 billion bottles, an increase of 4.5 per cent on 2005.