Beyond the Bottle: Why Australia’s wine industry must shift on China
Recent industry data confirms that the industry’s current path is not viable. Australia’s return to a changing Chinese market requires a strategic review, writes GreenGold Ventures CEO Anthony Coles.
Two years ago, as the trade winds shifted, a strategic alternative was proposed to the Australian wine sector at an industry workshop briefing at Magill Estate.
It suggested, as a result of deep structural market shifts in China, that South Australia’s wine industry stop viewing the Chinese market solely through the lens of volume (and tariffs), and instead look to the development of the market to be based on shared values of sustainability, high-quality viticulture and regional wine tourism.
The response? $2 million tossed towards attending the same old trade shows in China to pour free drinks, a major Wine Technical Conference hosted in Adelaide with limited Chinese industry participation, and a failed industry support package recently extended for another two years.
InDaily‘s article, highlighting recent industry data, confirms that this current path is not viable. Australia’s return to a changing Chinese market requires a strategic review.
However, with industry support for its industry body at record lows, change will require entrepreneurial endeavours and risk-taking from a new generation of wine pioneers.
As we look at the future market landscape as clearly set out in China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), the priorities are clear. “Green Development, Rural Vitalisation and High-Quality Industry Development” is the focus for China.
Domestic wine industry development is a national priority
Instead of swimming against the rip, Australia’s wine industry, especially those in South Australia, needs to align with these national goals and benefit from China’s high-quality growth agenda.
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China’s wine market has undergone a seismic shift. The era of bulk imports and blind blending is over. The new era will be defined by understanding China through terroir and provenance linked to China’s history and culture.
Experience tourism is the new trend.
China is actively investing in its domestic wine regions (Ningxia, Xinjiang, Yunnan); however, they lack the decades of research and sustainable winemaking techniques that Australia possesses.
Instead of standing at trade shows flogging flagons, Australia should be selling its high-quality industry development and regional wine tourism expertise.
Through sustainable viticulture and wine tourism R&D, Australian winemakers can reposition themselves as mentors and partners in China’s green, high-quality wine industry development.
This moves the conversation from foreign competition to strategic cooperation.
A narrative that resonates strongly with current global shifts in geopolitical norms, multilateral trade development and China market sentiments.
Green is not just a marketing term in China, it is a regulatory and consumer mandate.
Australian wine is synonymous with “clean, green” production; it is in our certification and marketing of wines as sustainable that we can jump ahead of the shift in the Chinese market.
Wine tourism in China is booming. The experience economy is forecast to be a multi-billion-dollar sector. But its infrastructure and capacity are still developing.
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Australia, specifically South Australia, has a world-class tourism product.
By sharing through commercial training programs and people-to-people exchanges, our cellar door experiences and hospitality models can receive support from China’s leading industry, academic and Government partners.
In doing so, we create a two-way street. We don’t just rely on a shrinking consumer market to buy our wine, we want them to embrace our wisdom and visit to experience our regions firsthand.
Promoting our regions while helping them develop theirs is a logical step when you realise how much upside is happening in China’s domestic market development.
Before the comments section blows out, let’s acknowledge the ‘rip’ that we’re swimming against.
In 2025 China tracked 6.5 billion domestic tourists: four million to Yantai’s wine regions and 300 million to the hugely popular developing Western Province of Xinjiang.
And while Australia benefits from the arrival of some one million visitors from China per year, realise that only 15 per cent of China’s 1.4 billion population actually have a passport.
Now that’s still 210 million people, but our one million visitors are still only 0.5 per cent of those who could travel, and a very, very, very small percentage of everyone in China.
Can South Australia seize the moment in China’s 15th Five-Year Plan?
Partnering with China on high-quality wine industry development drives high-yield market back to South Australia and turns a business transaction into a cultural exchange, fostering friendship and goodwill that underpins long-term trade stability.
Let’s move beyond the order book mentality and nurture a more collaborative approach with our largest export partner. Co-host symposiums on sustainable wine growing, be active in China to help develop local talent to meet international visitor expectations. All the while actively promoting South Australian wine regions as the ultimate destination for Chinese oenophiles.
The opportunity for Australia is huge. By pivoting from a simple exporter to a strategic partner in high-quality wine industry development, we will secure more than just market share in China’s domestic market; we will secure a future where Australian wine is respected not just for its taste, but for its contribution to a greener, more sophisticated domestic wine industry.
China’s wine market is growing up. Are we?
GreenGold Ventures CEO Anthony Coles is a former national board member with the Australia China Business Council, and chair of its “Green Economy Accelerator” program launched in 2021 to promote greater collaboration between Australia and China on China’s new green, high-quality economic growth agenda.
