STORY: China perfect market for Europe's wine industry, says Slovak winemaker
DATELINE: Oct. 9, 2023
LENGTH: 0:02:33
LOCATION: Bratislava
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE 1 (Slovak): EDUARD SEBO, Slovak winemaker
2. various of photos from Sebo's archive about the Wine Culture Festival
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Slovak): EDUARD SEBO, Slovak winemaker
4. various of photos from Sebo's archive about the Wine Culture Festival

STORYLINE:

Europe's wine cellars are brimming, while demand for the product is steadily increasing in China, Slovak winemaker Eduard Sebo told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The recent drop in demand across Europe keeps pushing the prices down and threatens to destroy the wine industry, he said.
   
As a result, vineyards are being uprooted and local wine producers are forced to distill wine into other products like alcohol for disinfectants or look for new markets, he added.
   
Meanwhile, wine consumption and production are on the rise in China, Sebo said after he attended a recent competition between Central and Eastern European and Chinese wines, part of the 2023 China-Central and Eastern European Countries Wine Culture Festival held in Cangzhou city in northern China's Hebei Province.
   
Around 320 wines produced by 20 winemakers from 16 countries and regions were rated by three commissions and about half of the samples were Chinese. Sebo's winery took home a gold medal for the Muscat Blanc a Petits Grain variety.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Slovak): EDUARD SEBO, Slovak winemaker
"Wine consumption in China in the last 15 years has risen from 0.02 liters per capita to 2.2 liters per capita. It's going up and up. The whole wine business is on the rise, including planting vineyards and producing wine. In the near future, we will learn from them. The increase in the number of middle-class citizens is reflected in the increase in the consumption of wine. And we want to be a part of it. There is a big surplus all over Europe which drives the prices down. It needs to be consolidated. China is a country that could help improve the situation in Europe."

During his stay in China this time, Sebo visited a high-profile winery in eastern China's Shandong Province.

Sebo, who is also president of the United Industries investment group, was deeply impressed by the size and level of technology implemented on site.

The 73-year-old businessman was especially surprised by a "25-story research and development building, ten wine bottling machines and autonomous carts whizzing around the compound."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Slovak): EDUARD SEBO, Slovak winemaker
"The factory has excellent technology, it has 10 wine-filling machines in a large hall. We have only one in our factory in Trnava. The carts there are autonomous, whizzing around with no people in sight."

Confident in the Chinese wine market's potential, Sebo's company has also set up a joint venture, the Zhongjie Nitra Winery in Cangzhou.

Sebo is also planning to bring the wine competitions nearer to the public. "We have started talks with two big provinces and their administrations in order to attract more Chinese businessmen and producers (into the competition)," he said. 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Bratislava.
(XHTV)