International wine expo to be held in Xi’an

The third session of Xi'an's International Wine Festival and Wine Expo will be held in Xi'an International Trade and Logistics Park (ITL), Northwest China's Shaanxi province, on May 24.

The event, sponsored by the Western International Wine Trade Center, will bring wine chateaux and dealers from around the world together to discuss cooperation opportunities.

The event will take advantage of the construction of the Silk Road economic belt, and China's biggest inland port, as well as the operation of Chang'an cargo train to develop the wine expo into a calling card for Xi'an. It will focus on wine culture development, foreign trade and cultural exchanges, and set up a trade platform for wine dealers in China and abroad.

As an influential wine event in Western China, the previous two sessions got positive responses from exhibitors, so the organizing committee decided to hold it on May 24 and 25 every year. The organizers hope more people will pay attention to the wine market in Western China and bring more quality wine to China.

It's expected that about 80 foreign chateaux and 50 domestic wine dealers will attend the event this year, attracting tens of thousands of visitors, which is a huge advance on the previous sessions.

Representatives from Sud de France Export, France's Languedoc region, as well as the Bordeaux Wine Industry Association will be present. Chateaux from France, Italy, Spain and Argentina will show up. Wine tasting and forums, as well as art shows will be held to boost the exchange of wine cultures.

"One of the highlights is that not only many foreign wine dealers will join the festival this year, but foreign wine producers will also come and tell consumers how to distinguish genuine wine from the fake stuff," said Cheng Baomin, chairman of the Shaanxi wine association.

There will be more than 10,000 types of wine on display, according to Cheng.

The event has received support from the Shaanxi Federation of Industry and Commerce, the Xi'an exhibition development office, the ITL management committee and other organizations. It has been widely covered by media in and outside the province.

The Wine Chamber of Commerce of Shaanxi Federation of Industry and Commerce and the provincial consumers' association's complaint office for the wine industry will supervise the whole event.