Bordeaux: China has become the largest importer

The statistics released by Le Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) showed that China had ascended to the first place for Bordeaux in terms of wine imports and the amount of business transactions by the end of December, 2010, which made China truly lives up to the status of the largest wine importer. Allan Sichel said that 2010 saw an increasing rise of middle and high-end wines.

In 2010, China imported 30-million-hectolitre wines, surpassing German for the first time to be at the top of the list. The increase started from the year of 2008. Compared with 2008, 2010 saw a sharp jump of 191.3% and 216.4% in terms of volume and value respectively. The double championship drove China to the top from the sixth largest importer.

Allan Sichel added that the fast-growing economy gradually precipitated the Chinese customers to accept the wine culture. Meanwhile, recent years enjoyed a quick expansion of distribution channels. Consequently, the fast-growing trend will continue to be the case in the future.