Bordeaux/Yinchuan, France, June 30 (Xinhua) -- On the banks of the Garonne River, the Bordeaux docks are crowded. From June 27th to 30th, the 2024 Bordeaux Wine Festival was held in the French city of Bordeaux. The eastern foothills of Helan Mountain in Ningxia were invited to represent China's wine regions for the first time at this international wine event, showcasing the development of China's wine industry to visitors.
Yi Guotao, executive deputy secretary general of the Grape and Wine Federation at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in Ningxia, said that a total of 15 wineries were organized to participate in the exhibition with 60 wines, during which the "Ningxia-Bordeaux Friendship Night" promotion activities and cultural exchange activities of Bordeaux wineries were also held.
"It is a great honor to participate in this event as the first wine producing area in China to be invited, which is an affirmation of the quality of the wines from the eastern foothills of Helan Mountain. We will use the platform of the Bordeaux Wine Festival to actively promote the integration of wine technology and culture between Ningxia and Bordeaux, and promote cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and France. Yi Guotao said.
As a world wine mecca, the city of Bordeaux is known worldwide for its excellent wine quality and profound cultural heritage. Since its inception in 1998, the Bordeaux Wine Festival has grown over the years to become one of the world's largest wine events and a proud heritage of locals, as well as wine lovers from all over the world.
"The mission of the Bordeaux Wine Festival is to inspire more people to explore the vineyards, to touch the vines and to walk into the cellars, to discover the wines and terroirs of Bordeaux and to learn about the work of the new generation of wine professionals." Christophe Chateau, promotion director of the Bordeaux Wine Industry Association in France, said that the first time to invite Chinese wine producing areas to participate in this festival is because the wine producing areas in the eastern foothills of Helan Mountain in Ningxia have performed well in recent years and have close cooperation with Bordeaux wine producing areas, "more than 40 Ningxia wines have been displayed in Bordeaux Wine City for three years".
The eastern foothills of Helan Mountain in Ningxia are close to the Bordeaux region in France, and are recognized by the industry as one of the world's most suitable golden areas for growing wine grapes and producing high-end wines, and were compiled into the "World Wine Map" in 2013 and become a new section of the world's wine regions. By the end of 2023, Ningxia has an area of 602,000 mu of wine grape planting and development, making it the largest concentrated wine grape producing area in China, with an annual output of 140 million bottles of wine, ranking first in the country's winery wine production, with a comprehensive output value of more than 40 billion yuan. Over the years, Ningxia and Bordeaux have maintained close cooperation in grape planting, winemaking technology, cultural exchanges and other aspects to jointly promote the prosperity and development of the wine industry.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and the Sino-French Year of Culture and Tourism. The Sino-French Joint Statement on Agricultural Exchanges and Cooperation, reached in May this year, pointed out that the deepening ties between China and France in the field of viticulture and winemaking are also reflected in France's support for China's accession to the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) in 2024, and that France is willing to continue to pay attention to the development of China's grape and wine industry and jointly improve the development level of the grape and wine industry.
"China's accession to the OIV is of great significance to the development of the world wine industry, which is conducive to the continuous improvement of the international status and recognition of domestic wines, and is conducive to promoting Chinese wines to go global, and there are more opportunities to carry out exchanges and cooperation with wine producing areas and countries in terms of variety, technology, education, talents, culture and other aspects." Huang Siming, director of the Management Committee of the Wine Industry Park at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in Ningxia, said that the Bordeaux region will be invited to participate in the China (Ningxia) International Wine Culture and Tourism Expo scheduled to be held in Ningxia in August to continue to promote the exchange and cooperation of the wine industry between China and France.