South African wineries toast tariffs that uncorked Chinese market

Name: Australian journalist Cheng Lei formally arrested in China for ‘illegally supplying state secrets’
Uploaded: 2021-04-17T04:00:15.000Z
Duration: 1 min 51 s
Description: Australian journalist Cheng Lei formally arrested in China for ‘illegally supplying state secrets’

Beijing’s tariffs effectively halt Australian wine exports to China amid broader dispute between the countries

‘Immediate opportunity’ for South African wine producers as their exports to China rise steeply

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South African wine exporters are filling gaps in the Chinese market left by Australian producers. Photo: Handout

Jevans Nyabiage

Published: 12:00pm, 17 Apr 2021Updated: 12:00pm, 17 Apr 2021

South Africa’s wine sector may be raising a glass to the consequences of China’s dispute with Australia after its share of the Chinese market grew since Beijing slapped tariffs on Canberra.

Exports of South African wine to China rose 50 per cent in the past three months compared with the previous three, according to trade body Wines of South Africa.

Africa’s largest wine producer may be benefiting after Beijing in November imposed tariffs of up to 212 per cent on wines from Australia, at the time its biggest wine supplier by far. Last month it extended the tariffs for five years and raised them to up to 218 per cent as relations between the countries continued to plummet; it could cost the Australian wine industry US$1.2 billion annually.

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Australian journalist Cheng Lei formally arrested in China for ‘illegally supplying state secrets’

Beijing last year accused Australian winemakers of “dumping” bottles of wine at low prices to crowd out local producers, but Australian wine traders believe the tariffs were prompted by political tensions. The two countries had only the previous year signed a free-trade agreement allowing Australian wines into China tariff-free.

Hannah Ryder, chief executive officer of Africa Reimagined, a Beijing-based trade consultancy that helps African brands navigate the Chinese market, said it was “certainly an immediate opportunity” for South African wines.

Political tensions between China and Australia began to worsen in April last year when Canberra called for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. Australian exports including beef, coal, barley, timber and wine then started facing difficulties in accessing the Chinese market, before China’s commerce ministry in August began an anti-dumping investigation into the wine.

According to Marcus Ford, Wines of South Africa’s Shanghai-based Asia market manager, South Africa had accounted for only 1 per cent of the Chinese wine market in 2019, with the leading supplier being Australia, with 35 per cent.