Chinese government helps to promote Moldovan wines

Moldova has signed a wine promotion agreement with China’s Ministry of Commerce as part of its plan to reduce its wineries’ reliance on Russia for sales.

The Moldovan and Chinese governments have signed a ‘memorandum of intentions’ to initiate a major push of Moldovan wines in China. Precise details of the agreement were not published, but the two parties are set to jointly promote the 'Wine of Moldova' brand in China, including via seminars and training programmes, according to Moldova’s National Office of Vine and Wine.

The deal was signed earlier this month during an official tasting of Moldovan wines in China, with 40 importers and distributors invited, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.

Moldova wine producers have faced pressure in recent years after being repeatedly barred from their major market, Russia. Most recently, Russia banned Moldovan wine imports in September 2013. Many suspect the embargo is political, because Moldova is establishing deeper political and financial bonds with the European Union.

‘We consider Chinese market as a strategic one, because of its size and growth in the last decade,’ Dmitri Munteanu, director of Moldova’s National Office for Vine and Wine, told DecanterChina.com. ‘Also, we think it might be a good alternative for Russian market.’

According to official figures, Moldova exported more than 1m litres of wine to China last year, still a small amount compared to Moldova’s annual production of 150m litres.

‘It is not much compared to the size of Chinese wine market, but five years ago it was almost zero,’ said Munteanu. He said it was hard to predict the level of exports to China in 2015, due to the current ‘structural change’ taking place in the Chinese wine market.

‘We really hope to [be] at least within the expected growth rate of the market,’ Munteanu said. ‘I think we can offer consumers good value for money.’

Read a brief introduction to Moldovan wines>>