The Fifth China (Ningxia) International Wine Culture and Tourism Expo opened on June 9 in Yinchuan, Ningxia.
At the same time, the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB) — dubbed the “Wine Olympics” — returns after seven years, highlighting Ningxia’s leading role in wine industry and its rising influence globally.
The four-day expo has attracted over 1,100 domestic and international guests. 14 activities such as a winery and wine exhibition, an innovation competition, and an art biennial will be hold.
This year, the CMB has brought nearly 400 international judges and over 7,000 wine samples, including a record number of entries from China, according to CMB Chairman Baudouin Havaux.
“We hope wine remains for all of us a universal connection, a shared language that unites continents and brings people closer,” Havaux said.
A Promising Chapter
Ningxia boasts a unique terroir for making top-class wine. It has prolonged sunshine and a cool, dry climate aiding the cultivation of grapes. After four decades of development, Ningxia has become China’s largest wine-producing region. The eastern foot of Helan Mountain is widely regarded as a “golden zone” for grape growing and high-end wine production.
“One in every two bottles of Chinese wine comes from Ningxia,” Zhang Yupu, chairman of Ningxia sai.
Ningxia has also established a national-level grape wine product quality inspection and testing center, as well as the country’s first collaborative innovation center for the wine industry.
By the end of 2024, Ningxia had more than 600,000 mu (around 40,000 hectares) of wine grape plantations and an annual wine output of 140 million bottles. Its wines are exported to over 40 countries and regions.
In November last year, China joined the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). The organization is the provider of international standards for wine. “We have watched with pleasure the rapid and exciting development of Ningxia’s Helan Mountain east foothill wine region as a very promising chapter in the global wine atlas,” Yvette van der Merwe, president of the OIV said.
Written by Yetao Gu, additional reporting by China Daily and Xinhua.
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