What was the focus of Trade Minister Don Farrell’s recent visit to China?

On Sunday, Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell was invited by Wang Wentao, China’s Minister of Commerce, to lead Australia’s delegation at the China International Import Expo. The largest annual import expo in the world, the CIIE is a key opportunity for Australian businesses to showcase their goods to the Chinese market, with this week’s event the first to take place since tariffs on Australian wine imports into China were lifted on 29 March.

“The expo is an important platform for Australian businesses to showcase their world-class goods and services to our largest export market,” wrote Don Farrell in a media release on Sunday.

“In the year since Prime Minister Albanese and I attended the last expo, tariffs on Australian wine imports into China have been removed and suspensions lifted on eight red meat export facilities… I will meet with my counterpart, Minister Wang, where I will continue to press for the full resumption of normal bilateral trade.”

One of the focuses of Farrell’s visit is to continue to develop the trade relationship between Australian and Chinese wine industries.

“I think the relationship's very good,” said Mitchell Taylor, Managing Director of Taylors Wines, in an interview with Drinks Trade yesterday.

“I was talking to Don Farrell about it. He's just recently gone back into the market in China, and he's got very good relationships. I met the Premier when he was out visiting Australia, and also met the Trade Minister from China, so it was great to have that delegation out earlier in the year. I think the relationships are really quite solid and going very well at the moment.”

Drinks Trade also asked Taylor whether he feels the results of the upcoming US election would have a major impact on Australia-China wine trade relations.

"I think everyone is concerned on the macro scale what will happen to world trade, but we don't feel we'll get caught in any crossfire, particularly on wine,versus other goods and services that are traded internationally," he said.

During his stay, Don Farrell also visited Treasury Wine Estates’ Shanghai office to discuss cooperation between the Australian and Chinese wine industries moving forwards. Farrell was joined by Penfolds’ General Manager for Mainland China Jack Wu, Penfolds’ Managing Director Tom King, and various representatives from the Australian government, TWE, the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, and Chinese food and agriculture company COFCO.

“It’s an honour to be joined by Senator Farrell today to celebrate the progress and ongoing engagement between Australia and China as we continue to cooperate to foster winemaker talent, and elevate the wine industry in both countries,” said Tom King, Penfolds’ Managing Director.

“TWE has an outstanding team here in China, and we’re proud to contribute to the local wine and viticulture industry, and look forward to developing this further by sharing knowledge and cultivating talent.”

One of the focuses of the meeting was to discuss the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the China Alcoholic Drinks Association and the Australian Grape & Wine in September. Outlined in this agreement is a commitment to developing a winemaker talent development and exchange program between China and Australia. Thus far, TWE has played a pioneering role in leading the initiative.

“We’re proud to play a leading role in this program, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to China as part of TWE’s long-term growth strategy, and our excitement about the future of Chinese winemaking,” said Tim Ford, CEO.

“This is another example of the strength of cooperation, as we bring together key partners from both nations to nurture talent, advance innovation and build lasting partnerships that will benefit the wine sector globally.”

The China International Import Expo follows shortly behind the publication of Wine Australia’s latest Export Report, which saw wine exports reach their highest levels since August 2021 by both volume and value. This was largely driven by the reopening of the Chinese market, with shipments to mainland China increasing from $604 million to $612 million in value and from one million litres to 59 million litres in volume.

“While the export figures to mainland China are very positive, the impact on total export value is much larger than volume due to the premium price point of most wine entering the market,” said Peter Bailey, Wine Australia’s Manager of Market Insights.

“As such, this increase is unlikely to reduce the oversupply of red winegrapes in the warm inland regions.”

Yesterday, Drinks Trade caught up with Mitchell Taylor, Managing Director of Taylors, shortly after he returned from a stint reconnecting with suppliers on the ground in China. Insights from that article will be posted to the website soon.