NEWS
HK COMMERCE SECRETARY VISITS BORDEAUX TO PROMOTE CITY’S WINE HUB ROLE
By Susan Lewis
25-6-2025
Source: Hong Kong government
Hong Kong’s secretary for commerce, Algernon Yau, has paid a visit to Bordeaux to promote Hong Kong’s role as a wine and liquor trading hub to the local trade.
During the trip, Yau held a business roundtable and met with representatives of the trade of Bordeaux wine, Cognac and Armagnac to exchange views on the latest developments of the trade and enhance co-operation on promoting wine and liquor trading.
Yau first shared with the trade the business opportunities brought about by the strong growth in the demand of wine in the vast market of Asia Pacific.
He said market research revealed that China's wine market generated approximately USD31 billion in revenue in 2024 and is projected to reach USD54 billion in 2030, reflecting an annual growth rate of almost 10 percent.
He added that with Hong Kong's wine duty abolished in 2008, the city is now an international wine trading hub and one of the world's top three wine auction centres.
On Hong Kong’s liquor trade, Yau said that France remains one of Hong Kong's top liquor trading partners. In 2024, Hong Kong imported USD831 million worth of liquor, and France was Hong Kong's second-largest import source, accounting for 30 percent of the total.
Brandy continued to be a leading category, particularly through high-end retail channels catering to the mainland market.
Yau added that last October, Hong Kong took another step by introducing a two-tier liquor duty system under which the duty rate was reduced from 100 percent to 10 percent for the portion above HKD200.
He noted to Bordeaux trade professionals that Hong Kong is the host to a number of signature wine and spirits events - the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair, Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival and biennial events such as ProWine Hong Kong and Vinexpo Asia - that provide French producers with unparalleled platforms to promote their brands to international buyers, distributors and liquor enthusiasts.
Coupled with Hong Kong’s premier location, free flow of capital and free port status, he concluded that the city is the best partner for the Bordeaux wine and liquor sector to tap into the tremendous opportunities in the Asia market, notably China.
Between 2013 and 2023, imports of spirits in Asia grew 79.3 percent, a significantly faster rate than the global increase of 42 percent in the same period. China is now the world’s third-largest importer of Cognac.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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