‘Chinese wine market has hit the bottom’, say trade professionals at CFDF

The slide in the Chinese wine market has bottomed out, said trade leaders at the 92nd China Food and Drinks Fair (CFDF, also known as Tangjiuhui) which opened today in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

As the largest alcoholic drinks trade fair in China, the three-day fair has gathered some 3,000 exhibitors from more than 30 countries and regions including France, Spain, New Zealand, Chile, Australia, Hong Kong Taiwan.

‘The China Food and Drinks Fair has great value in China,’ LI Shiyi, general manager of Import Wine Business Department of COFCO, told DecanterChina.com, ‘as [it provides] opportunities for our brand to meet the clients.’

The Chinese wine market has experienced downturn in the past couple of years, especially for the high-end wines.

‘2015 will continue to be a challenging year,’ said Li. ‘It will not go anywhere worse than now, but the recovery will not be significant either.’

‘There are more chances in the current situation,’ he added. ‘Especially for those importers who want to develop real brands, the opportunities in the industry have gradually appeared.’

ZHANG Xu, deputy director of the Yantai Vine and Wine Office felt more optimistic about the Yantai wine scene in 2015.

‘According to the statistics of the Yantai wine region, [the sales] in 2014 has increased by 1% versus 2013,’ said Zhang. ‘Thus, I think we have hit the bottom, and will see the market rebound slowly this year.’

He also said that attending the fair will not necessarily generate any sales for the wine companies from the Yantai region, but can help to ‘increase the awareness of the region and increase its impact as a whole’.

Additional report by Sally Cheng from Macau