China creates network of Georgian wine centres

Chinese trade-economic Suolun Group planned to open 60-80 new Georgian wine centres in China this year. Photo by Georgia's Agriculture Ministry.
Agenda.ge, 28 Jan 2016 - 14:08, Tbilisi,Georgia

Dozens of Georgian wine centres will open in China this year, allowing Georgian wine producers to share their products with Chinese consumers.

Today Georgia’s Ministry of Agriculture announced Chinese trade-economic Suolun Group would open 60-80 new Georgian wine centres in China this year.

By opening the centres, the Chinese Group aimed to popularise Georgian wine and promote the country’s rich winemaking culture.

Yesterday Suolun Group opened a Georgian wine house in China’s Zhijiang province, where 55 million people live.

This was the second Georgian wine house opened by the Group in China within the last seven months.

Yesterday Suolun Group opened a second Georgian wine house in China’s Zhijiang province. Photo by Georgia's Ministry of Agriculture. 

Suolun Group also planned to open a Georgian wine school in Yiwu, eastern China – a city of about 1.2 million people that’s famous for its vibrant market.

In September 2015 representatives from Suolun Group came to Georgia and met the-then Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to share their future plans about opening Georgian wine centres in China.

In recent months China has become one of the most important wine importer countries for Georgia.

Last year the Government of Georgia worked hard to diversify its wine exports, and this was evident in latest data by Georgia's National Wine Agency, who said Georgian wine exports to China had increased by 122 percent in 2015 compared to 2014.

In total, Georgia exported 2,672,154 bottles of wine to China last year.

With these figures China was the fourth largest importer of Georgian wine in 2015.