The message was released on the website of State Ecnonmic and Trade Commission.

The goal could be translated into four transformations: from average-quality ones to high-quality ones; from high-alcoholic-content ones to low-alcoholic-content ones; from distilled ones to brewed ones and from grain-made ones to fruit-made ones.

During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, the market demand for wine products will grow dramatically with the continuous improvement of the living standards of the Chinese people. During the next two decades, China’s per capita GDP will rise from US$ 800 to 2000. This will result in the transformation of the consumption structure, in particular the consumption of food stuffs.

The alcoholic drinks industry should be market-demand-oriented with the conservation of materials and abundant supply as the primary targets. The development focus should be placed on grape-wine and other fruit-wines. The production of Chinese rice-wine should be encouraged and the development of beer should keep a steady pace while the development of Chinese liquors should be put under control. The high-quality grapes and barley should be cultivated to ensure the abundant supply of the raw materials for the grape-wine and beer making.

The above industry planning is based on the active consultation with wine-making entrepreneurs and industry experts, not a product of administrative decision. It could serve as the guideline for the alcoholic drinks industry. The reason for the grape-wine to be identified as the focus of the development of China’s alcoholic drinks industry over the next five years is due to the abnormal proportion of the grape-wine in the overall wine production. China’s production of beer and alcohol is among the largest in the world with beer output expected to surpass the U.S and top the world this year. China’s annual outputs of beer, liquor, rice-wine and grape-wine are 24 million, 5.5 million, 1.5 million and 0.3 million tons respectively. Grape-wine accounts for a tiny 1% of the total.

The further expansion of China’s grape-wine industry benefits from three factors: First, the demand for grape-wine will increase over time albeit the higher prices. Second, the raw materials for the wine-making industry are developing fast. Since the Ninth Five-Year Plan period, a number of good-quality grapes have been introduced and a large number of vine-yards have mushroomed. Thirdly, a number of wine-makers have propped up with high-quality and diversified products.

However, China’s grape-wine industry is still in its infant stage. The Technical Standards for Grape-Wine Making is the country’s first of its kind to be ever published and the market should be nurtured carefully to maturity.

(china.org.cn January 6, 2003)