The development of the Chinese wine industry and trade

Abstract

Purpose The study aims to give an overview of the development of the Chinese wine industry and trade between 1992 and 2019. Its importance is highlighted by the fact that China has become one of the world’s largest wine-consuming markets with great growth potential and is now ranked among the top 10 largest global markets for wine. Design/methodology/approach To address Chinese wine industry competitiveness, revealed comparative advantage (RCA), relative trade advantage (RTA) and revealed competitiveness (RC) were calculated, based on the World Bank World Integrated Trade Solution database. Chinese wine market-related issues are analyzed by Porter’s Five Forces in help of Market Line industry profile reports. Findings Results suggest that the Chinese wine market is relatively fragmented, with a concentrated food and beverages retail industry, strong buyer power and a moderate supplier power. The RCA calculated for the Chinese wine trade indicates that the share of exported bottled wine has become significant in the analyzed period. However, the RCA was perceivable just for bottled wines and only in the last analyzed period (2013–2019), whereas RTA and RC were negative for all periods revealing a comparative disadvantage. However, current market trends suggest that they will increase in the future. Research limitations/implications Data accuracy may affect these results because wine statistics may contain mislabeling. Moreover, China expanded its investments in many well-known wine regions all over the world, especially in Bordeaux, France. These, along with the significant re-export, could make it harder to interpret wine trade data because some part of the export is related to Chinese wineries outside of China. Practical implications Knowing the above-mentioned limitations, results should be interpreted with caution. However, high-quality wines can be identified as a niche market in China. Originality/value The study provided a detailed analysis of the Chinese wine industry and its competitiveness.