Removal of Chinese tariffs sees imports of Australian wine surge

A thawing of relations between Beijing and Canberra saw the value of Australia’s bottled wine exports to China climb rapidly in the first nine months of this year – bouncing back from near extinction in January, when import volume totalled just one litre – while those from major European competitors dropped due to shipping problems.

The value of China’s imports of Australian bottled wine last month was 2,952 times more than in September last year, before the removal of punitive tariffs, with volume totalling 3.51 million litres, according to the latest customs data.