Wine dumping

Two -thirds of the general import of wine in China fall on the EU countries. 40% - for France

The China Ministry of Trade announced on Wednesday the beginning of an anti -dumping investigation regarding the supply of wine and other alcoholic beverages from the European Union to the Chinese market, which may end with the introduction of special import duties.

It is initiated by Chinese companies in this industry, which believe that various kinds of subsidies and benefits that competitors use in Europe allow them to ultimately sell their products in China at prices below local market markets.

The statement of the Chinese authorities was published literally a few hours after the European Commission announced the phased, starting from June 6, the introduction of import duties on the equipment for solar energy supplied to Europe, produced in China. The decision, as noted, was made based on the results of the anti -dumping investigation conducted by the European Commission.

The EU’s claims are reduced to the practice of China subsidizing their manufacturers of such equipment, thanks to which they can sell it in Europe, the world's largest market for this industry, at prices almost twice as much than local competitors. That is, in fact, China’s claims regarding wine import from Europe coincide with European claims to China in terms of solar energy.

The total consumption of wine in China remains more than moderate. According to the study company International Wine & Spirit Research, in 2011 it amounted to 1.4 liters per person and can grow up to 2.1 liters within three years. For comparison, the average per capita consumption of wine in France exceeds 53 liters per year.

China is not only a fifth consumer of wines in the world, but also the sixth in volume by their manufacturer. At the Fair of Mediterranean Wines in Shanghai, February 2013

However, wine imports in China in recent years have been growing by the pace that has long been unprecedented by this industry-according to expert estimates, by 30-50-80% annually for different foreign manufacturers. More than two thirds of this import of this import in 2012 in 430 million liters, according to official Chinese statistics, entered China from European countries, of which 170 million liters (that is, more than 40% of the total) - from France alone (11% more than a year earlier).

China has now become the third importer of French wines in the world - after the USA and Great Britain. In particular, a third of these supplies to China falls on wine from Bordeaux province, for which the Chinese market provides a quarter of its common wine exports - twice as much as Germany.

International industry experts note in this regard that, opening an anti -dumping investigation against wine imports from the European Union, China hopes for a certain support from France regarding the revision of European import duties on Chinese equipment for solar energy. While they are introduced temporarily, for six months. The decision whether to save them for another five years will be made in December, and the support of most EU countries is necessary. Over the next months, the European Union and China intend to continue negotiations on both trade disputes - both the Helioenergetics market, and European wine imports to China.

For China, the European Union is the largest trading partner. At the same time, the total volume of Chinese export of goods to Europe doubles European exports to China: in 2012 - 290 billion euros against 144 billion euros. Such a gap in many ways explains why, from the 31 trading investigation that the EU is conducting today, 18 are connected with China. The largest of them is just about the supply of Chinese equipment for solar energy, the issue of the issue is 21 billion euros.

For the European Union itself, China is the second most important foreign trade partner - after the United States. And the duties on Chinese equipment in the EU from June 6 in the first two months will amount to less than a quarter of the originally expected.