Ningxia to add more sparkle to its wines

An employee of a French equipment maker demonstrates how to cut grape stems with a special tool at the Sitevinitech 2014 International Trade Show for Wine Production & Fruit/Vegetable Farming, which opened on Wednesday in Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Wang Huazhong / China Daily

Armed with delicate oak barrels, tin labels and other professional equipment including grape harvesters and sorters, several foreign wine-makers are converging in Yinchuan, the capital of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, to cash in on the city's growing stature as a major wine-making place.

Yinchuan, which has the best climate for wine-making in China, has been exploring ways to attract more overseas investment and wine-makers to the region with an eye on making world-famous wines in the next three to six years. The Sitevinitech 2014 International Trade Show for Wine Production & Fruit/Vegetable Farming, which opened on Wednesday and runs through Friday, is expected to give a further fillip to the region's ambitions as it brings together key personnel from the wine-making industry. The event is organized to commemorate the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and France.

The region already has grape cultivation spread over 30,000 hectares and over 100 vineyards, most of them near the Helan Mountain. That, city officials said, makes Yinchuan an important wine-making region in the world.

"China's wine-making industry has achieved remarkable development, and Ningxia is a label that represents the new grape growth area," French Ambassador Sylvie Bermann said in a video sent to the organizers of Sitevinitech 2014.

Bermann said that China is the fifth-biggest consumer of wines, the fourth-biggest grape planter and the eighth-largest producer of wines in the world. Ningxia is spearheading most of the advances in the Chinese wine-making industry, and is also an avant-garde destination that is championing grape cultivation to counter desertification, she said.

Former chairman of Ningxia government, and the incumbent president of International Federation of Vine and Wine of Helan Mountain's East Foothill, Hao Linhai, said the fast growth in the region has also been accompanied by the enhanced focus on superior quality wines.

"Wine-making has been growing steadily in Ningxia every year. The flurry of equipment manufacturers that are here is an indication of the rich potential," said Julien Desmaison, export manager of Gregoire SAS, a French company that makes grape harvesters.

He said that most of the grapes are picked manually in China, while 80 percent of the grapes are harvested by machines in France. "Ningxia has huge business growth potential and the biggest market for us in China, due to its flat terrain, open spaces, large area, and organized vineyards."

Benjamin Macrez, sales and marketing manager of oak barrel producer Saint Martin, said his company sold over 200 barrels in Ningxia last year. "There's high-quality wine, (then it needs) high-quality barrels."

Ningxia has also won several international accolades at wine exhibitions and was recently made an observer to the International Organization of Vine and Wine, according to Cao Kailong, the head of the region's bureau for the grape and flower industries.

Zhang Jinshan, chairman of Ningxia's wine association, said the local government's commitment to improve wine quality by sticking to the vineyard winemaking model, will help sustain growth and win more honors and market share. Though the Ningxia wine industry will encounter testing times, it can circumvent this by investing more in advanced technologies, he said.