Ningxia eyes coastal provinces to expand domestic market

China’s leading wine region, Ningxia, is counting on China’s coastal provinces to expand its domestic wine market and move its excess wine stocks, the region’s top wine official revealed at a recent conference.

Speaking at a conference to outline Ningxia’s wine industry’s overall 2017 development outlook, Cao Kailong, the director of Ningxia Bureau of Wine Development, said the bureau will work to improve its ability and resources to sell off its excess stocks and expand its market reach into Fujian and Zhejiang provinces.

In addition, Cao said in 2016, Ningxia produced 120 million bottles of wine and sold 4.15 tonnes of wines worth 5 billion RMB (US$728 million). In 2017, the region will aim to sell at least five million bottles.

The region is also expected to hire a technical team from Marlborough, which has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ningxia to extend cooperation on winemaking last year, to oversee winery design, renovation and winemaking.

Ningxia in northwestern of China is the fifth largest wine producing region in China but is home to some of the country’s best wineries including Silver Heights and Xi Xia King. It lies roughly 500 miles of west of Beijing and has a total of close to 50 wineries.