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Australia raises toast as trade improves

China Daily | Updated: 2024-06-04 00:00
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ADELAIDE, Australia — For 18 years, Australian winery owner Kym Teusner has sold wine in the Chinese market. However, China's lifting of restrictions on Australian wine at the end of March has made Teusner more optimistic about sales.

"Business is going pretty well," Teusner told Xinhua News Agency.

"We have sent a few small shipments … the wines are still traveling across the ocean, so we will be better positioned to make some plans once they arrive and we have the opportunity to assess how receptive the consumers are."

China's Ministry of Commerce announced at the end of March it would lift anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on Australian wine.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the resumption of trade will see an even higher number of Australia's wine exports to China than 2019 levels.

The wine industry employs hundreds of thousands of people if tourism and other relevant industries were considered, Albanese said, adding that trade with China is closely linked to employment in Australia.

South Australia produces more than half of the country's wine, and its Barossa Valley is one of the world's top wine-producing areas. Teusner has about 200 hectares of vineyard there, with his winery capable of processing more than 3,000 metric tons of wine annually.

Teusner said Barossa Valley is much warmer and has a much more stable climate, so the grapes are much riper, which means wines are much richer, much more concentrated, and much more flavorful.

"I'm pretty excited about the next few years," he said, adding that Barossa Valley is a very diverse place that allows winemaking to suit the different needs of the diverse Chinese market.

Teusner began to export his wine to China in 2006, and the Chinese market has continued to account for 40 percent of Teusner Wines' exports.

Eagerness expressed

Fiona Yao, sales manager of Teusner Wines, said most wineries are very eager to return to the Chinese market, as South Australia is an agricultural region with red wine being its pillar industry.

Yao, who has been in the Australian wine industry for 15 years, said the Chinese and Australian wine industries have been deeply intertwined.

"South Australia alone has dozens of Chinese-funded wine enterprises," she told Xinhua.

Coonawarra is a boutique wine region in South Australia, particularly with its Cabernet Sauvignon wine favored by many around the world. A Chinese private enterprise has acquired the long-established, large-scale winery Rymill Coonawarra, and retained all its original technical staff to continue the tradition and style of local wines.

Li Jie, management consultant of Rymill Coonawarra, said the expansion of the Chinese market brought new prospects for Rymill after the acquisition.

"Sales orders have been hectic lately," Li said, adding that Rymill will have three containers shipped to the Chinese city of Ningbo on Thursday, and will also invite and assist more local wineries to invest in China and expand the Chinese-Australian wine trade.

Chinese Consul General in Adelaide Li Dong said Australian wine exports to China have shown signs of rapid recovery in April and May. Local wine enterprises in South Australia are confident of returning to the Chinese market.

The Chinese market will remain a huge attraction for the Australian wine industry in the medium to long run, Li said, adding that the future of bilateral wine trade is promising as long as Australian policies remain stable.

Xinhua

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