China may import 26m cases of wine in 2011

Demand for Australian wine in China is soaring, with imports up 29% in the first nine months of 2011 compared with the same period last year.  

With more than 1,000 Australian wine brands now available in China, third-quarter results show Chinese mainlanders bought 2.54 million cases of Australian wine.  

China is Australia’s fastest growing market and fourth largest export market by value, after the UK, US and Canada.  

According to Wine Australia, China netted the most sales of premium Australian wines between September 2010 and September 2011, with more than 4.2m bottles priced over 600 yuan sold.  

The country is on track to import 26m cases of wine by the year’s end, a 60% growth compared with last year’s figure of 16m.  

Australia takes a 15% slice of the market, followed by Italy, Spain, Chile and the US.