Zhou Hong Jiang, vice president, was speaking at a business conference last Tuesday (April 4), titled ‘Sharing Knowledge for Shaping the Future’, at Changyu's Reina Castle winery outside the Chinese city of Xi’an, organised in conjunction with Italian drinks producer, Illva Saronno.

A new trade agreement between China, Australia, and Chile will open each others’ markets to import and export. Dominating its domestic market with circa 70%, it is already facing fierce competition from French, Italian and Spanish wines. While its wines are currently available in the UK, Germany France and Spain.

Changyu already owns cognac maker Roullet Fransac and Spanish wine producer Marqués del Atrio.

Founded in 1892, China’s first wine enterprise, it is now China’s number one wine producer with 20,000 hectares of vineyards in six regions, 20 wineries, eight ’chateaux’, 181 winemakers, 29 warehouses, 37,000 sales people and 5,700 distributors.

It was state owned between 1932 and 1997. It is now 49% listed on the Chinese stock exchange with Illva Saronno, owners of the Italian amaretto-flavored liqueur Disaronno, owning 33% of the remaining 51%.

Augusta Reina, Illva Saronno CEO, told Drinks International, that his company is involved with targeting and negotiating with potential Changyu targets in Chile and Argentina.  He would not reveal which companies and which regions they are looking at although it is believed that are looking at wineries in regions around Adelaide in South Australia.