Tony Soljan attends opening of new China Wine Hub

Tony Soljan attends grand opening of the new Wine Hub in Ningbo, China
Owner and Managing Director of Soljans Estate Winery in Kumeu, Tony Soljan, recently attended the grand opening of the new ‘Imported Wine Exhibition Centre’ in the free trade zone in Ningbo, China.

The Ningbo Free Trade Zone (NFTZ) Imported Wine Market is a huge building housing over 2000 wine brands from over 20 countries around the world, and has been developed by the administrative committee of NFTZ.

The NFTZ has established this professional imported wine service platform especially for the Ningbo market with a one stop service provided by government, Customs, Quarantine, declarations agencies and warehousing companies.

These organisations have worked together to create this important ‘Imported Wine Exhibition Centre’, trade centre and distribution centre.

The grand opening of the ‘Imported Wine Exhibition Centre’ took place on Friday 10th June and guests included many government officials and corporate clients.

Municipal Government Deputy Secretary-General Chan Kwok-keung, said in his speech, that the opening of the ‘Imported Wine Exhibition Centre’ adds a new experience to Ningbo, and hopes that the authorities continue to support the import of wines and other imported goods from specialised markets.

Tony Soljan was asked to make a speech at the opening on behalf of all the wineries of the world who are represented in the centre. He commented on the strength of the relationships between China and New Zealand with the Free Trade Agreement, and the impressive venture that the NZFZ have accomplished.

This ‘Imported Wine Exhibition Centre’ is the largest imported wine trading centre in all of the free trade zones in China, and Soljans is working closely with Yunding Bay International Trading Company who own the New Zealand Wine Pavilion in the centre.

Yunding Bay represents 17 of New Zealand’s top wineries in Ningbo, and their main target market is the large number of corporates and government officials who live and work in Ningbo. Greater Ningbo has a population of 10 million people, and its close proximity to Shanghai is a huge opportunity. It is a 3 hour drive to Shanghai which has a population of 15 million, and this is a very sophisticated market who are eager to embrace new and exciting products.

Tony Soljan said this ‘Imported Wine Exhibition Centre’ gives Soljans an impressive ‘face’ in China and a platform to showcase its products to China’s most influential wine consumers.

Tony Soljan also says “China is the sixth biggest wine-producing nation in the world and they consume most of their product internally. However there are growing trends amongst the wealthy middle class who are looking to the west to see what they are drinking and as a result wine consumption is enjoying very steep growth. China is one of our top markets in the world, and we are working hard to ensure Soljans growth in this growing market."