Grape, wine industries thrive in NW China's Ningxia

The International Conference on Grape and Wine Industries and the third China (Ningxia) International Wine Culture and Tourism Expo was recently held in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Experts, scholars, industry leaders, and enterprise representatives from 42 countries and international organizations attended the event. A total of 224 deals worth 30.72 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) were inked at the event.

"Wine has become a 'purple business card' of Ningxia," said Lei Dongsheng, member of the standing committee and secretary-general of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China, at the press conference of the event.

Lei added that the autonomous region aims to make the event an international one that promotes the high-quality and integrated development of the wine sector, and the culture and tourism industry.

With abundant sunlight, less precipitation, significant temperature difference between day and night, and low humidity, the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountain on the outskirts of Yinchuan are recognized as one of the most suitable places in the world for growing wine grapes and producing high-end wine.

Photo taken on Sept. 14, 2018 shows grapes for winery use at a plantation in Hongsipu District of Wuzhong City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

In recent years, Ningxia has rolled out policies to attract investment and advanced technologies at home and abroad, witnessing further development of its wine industry park on the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains.

In June 2021, China set up a comprehensive experimental zone for the development and opening-up of the wine and grape industries in Ningxia. In the last two years, the autonomous region has explored new policies, technologies and models for the integrated development of wine, culture and tourism, promoting the rapid development of the wine industry park.

The wine grape planting area on the eastern foothills of Helan Mountain has reached 583,000 mu (38,866 hectares) of vineyards, accounting for 35 percent of the country's total. 138 million bottles of wine with an output value of 34.27 billion yuan are produced here each year.

The integrated development of culture and tourism has injected impetus into the high-quality development of the wine industry.

Over one-third of 116 wineries built on the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains can receive tourists, and 13 of them have become national tourist attractions at the 2A level and above. These wineries receive over 1.35 million tourist visits each year.

More than 60 wineries on the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains have won more than 1,000 awards in international competitions and exported their products to over 40 countries and regions.

The total area of wine grapes cultivated at the base on the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains will exceed 1.5 million mu by 2035, with an annual output of more than 600 million bottles of premium wine, and output worth 200 billion yuan.