China overtakes France as second-largest wine grower

China has overtaken France to become the world's second-largest wine grower by vineyard surface area, behind Spain, according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV).

In 2014, 10.6 per cent of the world's vineyards were in China, up from just 3.9 per cent in 2000.

France, the land of Bordeaux and Champagne, just missed out on second place with 10.5 per cent of the world's vineyards, reports The Times. Italy, Turkey and the United States took the fourth, fifth and sixth spots for vineyard surface area.

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"China wants to be self-sufficient in all sectors, this one included," said Jean-Marie Aurand, director-general of the OIV.

But France remains the biggest producer of wine, with 46.7m hectolitres (mhl) made last year.

China came eighth on the list for wine production in 2014, producing just 11.2mhl, less than a quarter of France's levels. It beat Chile and Germany, but was outdone by Italy, Spain, the US, Argentina, Australia and South Africa.

The world wine trade increased by 2.6 per cent compared with the previous year in terms of volume, but stayed at the same value.

In recent years, the decline in production of European vineyards was partially offset by the increase in other countries. China and South America were last year named as the "main vineyard growth centres in the world".

The United States was the biggest global consumer of wine, at 30.7mhl.

China recorded a 136 per cent increase in red wine consumption from 2008 to 2013. Some experts put the preference down to the colour rather than the taste – as red is seen as lucky and has affiliations with the Communist government, reported The Guardian. The colour white, however, is associated with death in China and predominantly seen at funerals.

However, the latest OIV statistics show that the level of consumption of all wines in China was around 15.8mhl for 2014, a reduction of 1.2mhl compared with the previous year.