Australia hopeful wine trade with China to recover as sales jump

Australia is optimistic the nation’s wine trade with China will fully recover after sales surged following the end of punitive tariffs. 

The country shipped more than A$86 million ($57 million) of wine to China in the first month after duties were removed, with the majority of shipments from South Australia, according to a government statement on Wednesday.

“This is a really important step in the wine industry starting to turn a corner after what has been a really difficult period,” Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said during a press conference with Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell.

China was Australia’s biggest wine export destination in 2019 before relations soured after then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an international investigation into the origins of Covid-19. Tariffs were removed at the end of March, raising hopes for a revival of the billion-dollar industry.