Hong Kong: Wine's port of entry

Wine and spirits fair touts gateway to China's massive market

Officials from Hong Kong and Italy hold a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at the opening ceremonies of the Hong Kong International wine & Spirits Fair.

Hong Kong — Planning a trip to China, travelers are often told that Hong Kong makes a good jumping-off point for exploring the massive nation with a population of 1.3 billion. The same could be said for wineries looking to break into the Asian market, according to a panel of industry experts based in the city-state.

Speaking Thursday at the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair, professor K.C. Chan, Hong Kong’s secretary for financial services and the treasury, said that those in the wine industry relate strongly to terroir — characteristics of the land. Hong Kong’s terroir, he said, is at once separate and part of China, Asia’s fastest growing market. In 2008, Hong Kong — a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China — removed what Chan said wineries might consider a weed from a fertile marketplace: The region reduced its wine tax from 40% to zero.

Coupled with its infrastructure and bilingual environment, this makes Hong Kong a logical place for newcomers to use as a launching pad, said Christopher Wong, Hong Kong’s deputy secretary for commerce and economic development, who spoke at the opening ceremony. Asked whether the favorable duty-free policies might change, Wong said, “I don’t see any reason for changing current policy,” adding that the government wants to maintain an environment that is conducive to “good business.”

Since the tax change, wine imports into Hong Kong grew from $367 million USD in 2008 to $895 million in 2010, according to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). During the first eight months of 2011, imports totaled $857 million — an increase of 65% over the same period in 2010.

More than a wine trading and distribution hub, Wong described Hong Kong as the “culinary capital in this part of the world,” noting that Hong Kong’s Vocational Training Council has pledged to open an International Cuisine College by 2014, further expanding wine education and training.

A great destination for wine Simon Tam, China’s head of wine for Christie’s auction house, said that while Shanghai and Beijing offer direct flights to cities around the world, mainland China still looks to Hong Kong for wine solutions. According to the HKTDC, 22.6 million of Hong Kong’s 36 million annual visitors come from mainland China; Hong Kong affords them the opportunity to taste and buy wines from all over the world. “Hong Kong provides that landing platform for West looking to get in touch with the East,” Tam said during the fair’s Wine Industry Conference. “Hong Kong is by all means a great destination for wine.”

He contends that, unlike mainland China, where counterfeit goods are the norm, Hong Kong maintains a good image, and products available there have instant credibility. “Hong Kong is glitzy. Hong Kong is larger than life,” he said. However, Tam said that for his clients, Hong Kong is not necessarily about glamour. “Hong Kong represents the gateway to the best: reliability, purity, good practices.

“In the West, there is dust (on bottles). In China there is no dust. Everything is bought and consumed.”