In the first half of 2017, China's wine imports were 254 million litres, a year-on-year increase of 13.9%, while the total wine imports reached 1.146 billion US dollars (about RMB 7.731 billion), an increase of 3.34% year-on-year. Regardless of import value or volume, France is China's largest wine importer, with a market share of more than 40%. In the first half of this year, China imported 98.32 million litres of French wine and imported 485.1 million US dollars (approximately RMB 3.273 billion). Following France, wine importers are Australia, Chile, Spain, Italy, the United States, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Portugal. Among China's top 10 wine importing countries, New Zealand's ranking is rapidly rising, jumping from 9th to 7th last year. It can be seen that New Zealand wines are becoming more and more popular in China. In 2008, China and New Zealand signed a free trade agreement.
China's coastal province Guangdong, adjacent to Hong Kong, remains the largest consumer market for imported bottled wine. Although in the first half of this year, Guangdong's bottled wine imports were less than Shanghai's, but its bottled wine imports reached 437.3 million US dollars (about RMB 2.951 billion), exceeding Shanghai's 333.2 million US dollars (about 2.242 billion). From these data, we can see that the proportion of bottled wine imports in these two provinces and cities is higher than 60% of the domestic total. Other important imported bottled wine consumption markets in China include Zhejiang, Beijing, Fujian, Shandong, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Liaoning and Sichuan.
China's bulk wine imports were 75.51 million liters, a year-on-year increase of 6.86%, while total imports reached 64.41 million US dollars (about RMB 432 million), a year-on-year increase of 24.86%. Among them, Chile is China ’s largest importer of bulk wine, with total imports of US $ 29 million (about 195.7 million yuan), followed by Australia (US $ 13.5 million, approximately RMB91.08 million), and Spain (US$12.5 million (or RMB 84.33 million), France (US $ 3.2 million, approximately 21.59 million RMB), South Africa (US $ 2.18 million or 14.71 million RMB), the United States (US $ 1.95 million or RMB 13.16 million), Italy (US$612,000 or RMB 4.13 million), Canada (US$328,000 or RMB 2.213 million), Portugal (US $ 312,000 or RMB 2.105 million), and Germany (US$97,932 or RMB 661,000).
In terms of sparkling wine, China's import volume was 6.72 million litres, an increase of 5.49% year-on-year; the import value was US $ 34.08 million (about RMB 229.9 million), an increase of 28.3% year-on-year.
Despite the recent decline in wine imports, China is still a wine market with great potential. The city's high-income population is about 112 million, and less than half (52 million people) drink imported wine at least twice a year. However, the market appears to be maturing, showing more consistent behaviour and attitudes with the typical developed wine market. In what ways does China's wine market become more "mature"? On the one hand, the number of regular imported wine drinkers (at least once a month) has stagnated, with about 33 million people. By comparison, the figure in the United Kingdom is 27.5 million and the United States is 84 million. The dream that one billion Chinese will consume one case of wine per year in the future (if this dream is realized will account for about 40% of global wine production) seems unlikely to be achieved-at least for now. However, a recent study found that although a considerable number of people still feel unsuitable for drinking wine, or find that wine does not meet their taste or lifestyle, more and more wine consumers are maturing. For example, those who drink wine primarily for medicinal value (also known as "health drinkers") now occupy the smallest consumer group on the market. Followed by "mainstream casual drinkers"-those who accept wine drinking culture, drink wine for fun and find that they like wine.
Another sign of a mature market is that consumers' wines are knowledgeable and abundant. Before, a considerable number of consumers were called "traditionalists seeking superiority". These wealthy consumers mainly drank red wine and equated high prices with high quality. Some of these consumers have now developed into “investment explorers”, a newly identified segment in 2019. Although they also consume large amounts of wine, these people like to explore and often try varieties other than traditional wine. It can be said that they are real wine lovers and they will seize any opportunity to enrich their wine experience. In addition, some "traditionalists seeking prestige" have developed into "identity seekers", which is another new consumer group discovered this year.
"Identity seekers" are those who drink to show their social status and don't mind spending more money on a bottle of wine, but they are not necessarily keen to become more involved in wine consumption. These "identity seekers" are more adventurous than their predecessors and choose and taste wine from more fashionable and niche areas. Compared to these new and evolving segments, the "newbie social" is still the largest consumer group. They are the youngest drinkers, usually at the beginning of their careers, and have not yet developed their interest in wine. They are still experimenting with different wine types, but don't drink too much for health reasons. In addition, it includes a "thrifty casual drinker" who is also a low frequency drinker, whose consumption is usually stimulated by "low prices" rather than because they like wine.
The fast-growing middle class, changes in the consumption habits of the younger generation, the popularity of wine knowledge, and the rapid development of China's e-commerce have made China's wine consumption more robust and potential, and its huge population base has made China one of the most attractive wine markets in the world. According to data released by the International Organization for Grape and Wine (OIV), the preliminary statistics of China's wine consumption in 2016 reached 1.72 billion litres, an increase of 6.9% over 2015, the largest increase in the world.
However, the total market of Chinese wine is still a "little brother" compared to the hundreds of billions of liquor market. The data shows that the per capita consumption of wine in China is 1.2 litres, but the per capita consumption in France is more than 40 litres. With the change of people's consumption concepts, coupled with the popularization of wine culture and the promotion of new media, Chinese wine will grow at high speed. With the gradual maturity of the Chinese wine market, the number of Chinese wine imports has shown an alarming acceleration. Traditional wine producing countries no longer dominate the trend of the entire industry, and China has begun to lead the global wine market.
For example, Australia and Chile, which are among the top three importers of Chinese wine, have been experiencing a year-on-year increase in export volume driven by preferential tariffs. For the fiscal year 2016-2017 of June, total Australian wine exports to China surged 44%. Chile's total wine exports to China in 2016 amounted to USD 195 million (about RMB 1.34 billion). China replaced the United States as the largest market for Chilean wine exports.
According to data released by the Customs, China imported a total of 480 million liters of bottled wine (equivalent to about 640 million bottles) in 2016, an increase of 22% over 2015 and a value of US $ 2.2 billion (about US $ 3.42 per bottle), an increase of 17%. Facing this fast-growing emerging market, international wine giants have taken the Chinese market as the focus of strategic deployment, and today China has become the main driving force for the global wine market.