The CIA (Italian Farmers Confederation) is worried. The Chinese predilection for wine is growing, and so is their wine production. The alarming news is that they are keen to export. As with everything related to the Chinese market economy, when it wakes up, it shakes it up! In the last year alone, wine exports from China to Italy have grown by 200 %. They are not competitive quality wise yet, but the prices are unbeatable! That’s why the CIA warns to watch out for the Chinese invasion! Read the news release:
Business in Italy
Special service by Agencia Giornalistica Italia on behalf of the Italian Prime Minister’s office.
WINE: CONFAGRICOLTORI, RISK OF CHINESE INVASION BY AUTUMN
(AGI) – Rome, April 9th– Italian wine markets still hold up, even in a to a general consumption crisis: however there is a real worry upon the massive wine imports from China expected for next autumn. It is the CIA- Italian Farmers Confederation to denounce this preoccupation pointing out that these imports have registered a 200% increase in this last year. Already a consistent amount of Chinese wine products have appeared in our country. Furthermore it is expected (again by CIA) that this share of the Chinese market is destined to great success. As a matter of fact the first signs of it have already been noticed. The product, mainly red, is sold at much cheaper prices than the Italian counterpart, though obviously its quality is not as good. Yet, these “made in China�? imports will eventually cause quite some damage to our wine makers. Starting in the 90s, says CIA, upper city social classes in China have rapidly and increasingly demanded wine products. Contact with the European life style and consumerism trends that would result in achieving a symbol social status have contributed to this phenomenon in China, which apparently between 1997 and 2003 has registered an 80% increase in the wine producing sector. There are estimates that the cultivated territory extended by about 350 thousand acres. Moreover, this has led to an uprise in productivity and the beginning of a foreign market penetration strategy. Nevertheless, wine is not the only threat coming from China. Apples, pears, garlic and onions are placing Italian production in great difficulty. During these past twelve months, “made in China�? imports of fruits and vegetables have had a 250% boost and this is a phenomenon which appears to be constantly consolidating itself. The real issue is that Italian fruit and vegetable producers have already suffered a decrease in demand and have been selling their products under cost for a long time already. Furthermore this phenomenon does not exclusively pertain to China, but also Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and South Africa. Thus we are confronted with massive imports of tomatoes, chicory, onions, courgettes, artichokes, kiwi, apples, pears, cherries, nuts, almonds and so on… All of these were products in which we had held a leading position not only in Europe. Cia also affirms that in China 350,000 acres of greenhouses are dedicated to this sort of production whereas protected cultivations represent 850,000 acres and in addition there is much growth in the development of the wholesale free market. There are also other programs to modernise infrastructure between cities in order to improve commerce between production areas and consumption areas, the latter situated mainly in the north.//