CRI听力:Global Wine Makers Change Strategy Amid China's Frugality Campaign

The current anti-corruption drive within the Chinese government also dove-tails with a frugality campaign, designed to limit government spending.

Despite the crackdown, which hit this country's wine industry pretty hard, wine makers attending this year's International Grape Conference here in Beijing say they're finding ways to fill the void left by government officials.

CRI's Li Ningjing has more.

China's wine market has experienced difficulties in recent years amid the anti-corruption and anti-extravagance offensives launched by the central government.

Wu Yuwen is a senior executive with leading Chinese wine brand Greatwall.

"We did feel the impact. Sales have not been satisfactory since last year. We only sold three tons last year, which is some thirty percent less than a usual year."

The central authorities rolled out several rules in 2012 aimed at curbing extravagant government spending.

Those rules ban government officials from holding banquets using public money, drinking during weekday lunches or having overly extravagant weddings for their children.

A recent report of China Alcoholic Drinks Association is suggesting the losses posed by Chinese wine makers have more than doubled since last year.

However, for some wine makers, the frugality campaign has actually provided an opportunity for them to rethink their strategy that has been over-reliant on the high-end market.

Maria Angela Brosio, the owner of Chateau AMALLA based in Italy, says they are trying to meet the rising demand of daily consumption instead of only focusing on the high-end market.

"We just entered the Chinese market. We have not felt the impact so far. We have witnessed sales actually increase though most of the increase came from middle-end products, instead of high-end products."

Chinese people used to consider wine consumption as a luxury, but now the situation is changing.

"I'd like to choose local brands. It is a kind of habit. We have an attachment for the wine and its culture."

"I have some friends who are in the wine importing business. Personally I prefer imported wines because with the same quality, imported wines are much cheaper. I can get a bottle with less than 100 yuan."

Ren Xiangdong, senior manager of Chinese wine maker Dynasty, says the rising demand of average citizens is fully capable of offsetting the losses from the government-sponsored consumption.

"It's a good thing for us, since the number of wine consumers is rising. Chinese consumers are more rational. The blind pursuit of import wines which happened around 2010 has gone. They just want to choose a wine which is healthy, with smells they like, and suitable for themselves."

It is widely believed the Chinese wine market is not dominated by high-end and expensive products anymore and the future growth will mostly come from the demand of average citizens.
Simon Gilber is the owner of Million Estate of Australia. He shares his experiences on facing these changes.

"The changes due to the austerity measures occurred in the last two years (imposed) by the Chinese government certainly had impact on the level and price of wines that are being sold in China. We have endeavored to match that by including other wines with slightly cheaper price to meet the demand."

Ren Xiangdong says eventually a better quality and reasonable pricing are the key to win the competition with imported products as well as to nurture the market which is still quite young in China

"After all, making wines is a new industry in China. We still have a lot to learn. We need to maintain and improve the quality of our products and make reasonable pricing. More importantly, we need to make products more affordable, instead of only making high-end products. That is the way to make our business stronger."

For CRI/Studio +, I'm Li Ningjing.