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China to import Azerbaijani wine

18 November 2016 13:42 (UTC+04:00)
China to import Azerbaijani wine

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan, with the great wine-growing traditions, will supply 500,000 bottles of wine to China, the world's second-largest economy.

The agreement on the wine supply was reached during the visit of the country’s export mission to Hong Kong and Guangzhou on November 9-15, according to the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry.

The Azerbaijani entrepreneurs discussed with their Chinese colleagues the opportunities of cooperation and got acquainted with new technologies for the production of wine, as well as met with local distributors and potential customers with the support of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Fund (AZPROMO).

During the visit, the Azerbaijani entrepreneurs took part in two international exhibitions of wine and alcohol producers, where the country’s products enjoyed huge interest. The national brand Savalan won a gold award at Guangzhou Interwine Fair 2016, one of the largest international wine exhibitions in the world.

Although the French wine is considered one of the best in the world, many wine lovers will agree that Azerbaijani wine is no way inferior to French one -- if not even superior in taste.

Currently, there are nearly 10 wineries and vineyards that produce wine in the country and more and more countries such as China are showing interest in the national brandy.

Today, Azerbaijani wines are exported to Russia, Ukraine, Baltic States, Poland, Belarus and the UAE .

The government has devoted considerable effort to creating the Caspian Coast wine trademark and has invested heavily in advertising the brand outside Azerbaijan. The ministries of agriculture and economy are working to develop a wine culture program.

Foreign wine has been pleasing in China market, as almost one out of five bottles opened in China is now imported from elsewhere around the world. China’s bottled wine imports in 2015 jumped by a third in both volume and value compared to 2014, show customs figures.

The figure reached a total of 395m litres by the end of the year, a 37% increase versus 2014. The total import value was up by 37% year-on-year to reach $1.9bn.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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