Expo in Ningxia brings wines closer to consumers

(ECNS) -- The 47th World Congress of Vine and Wine and the 24th General Assembly of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) are being held in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, from Monday to Friday, alongside the sixth China (Ningxia) International Wine Culture and Tourism Expo.

At a lifestyle market in the exhibition area, the aroma of coffee mingled with the fruity notes of wine, while food stalls, art installations and stamp-collecting activities contributed to the lively atmosphere.

"Traditional trade fairs mainly target industry players and professional buyers. We hope to break down barriers and bring wine out of wineries and professional exhibition halls and into people's everyday lives," said Li Jun, head of the Administrative Committee of the Ningxia Helan Mountain Eastern Foothills Wine Industry Park.

The lifestyle market caters to everyday consumers, helping address a gap in efforts to develop a broader consumer base for wine, Li said.

Innovative offerings at the market are making wine more approachable. Bartenders have crafted signature cocktails using wines from the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains, bringing out fruity, berry-like notes while reducing tannic astringency to make the drinks more appealing to newcomers.

The market also offers wines suited to different levels of experience, from easy-drinking, fruit-forward options for beginners to more complex selections for seasoned drinkers, along with tastings of unblended wines.

For many wineries, it was their first time participating in a lifestyle market of this kind.

Moving beyond traditional business-to-business trade fairs, they had an opportunity to engage directly with everyday consumers and showcase a livelier, more approachable side of wines from the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains in Ningxia.

The eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains in Ningxia have emerged as one of China's major wine-producing regions, where favorable climate and soil conditions have supported the industry's growth.

By the end of 2025, Ningxia had 40,467 hectares of land planted with wine grapes or designated for their cultivation, accounting for roughly 40% of China's total, according to local authorities.

Annual wine production reached 140 million bottles, placing the region first nationwide for winery-produced wine.