CANBERRA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Australian wine exports topped 800 million litres for the first time in 2017 on the back of strong demand from China, a report has revealed.
The export volume represents an 8 percent increase on 2016 while the export value rose 15 percent to 2.03 billion U.S. dollars, according to Wine Australia's Export Report for 2017 which was released on Tuesday.
"Australians have long known that Australian wine is second to none," Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Anne Ruston, said in a media release on Tuesday.
"It's wonderful to see our wine industry reinvigorate its exporting efforts to make sure the world knows it too.
Andreas Clark, chief executive officer of Wine Australia, said that exports to China were likely the future of the export market.
"We're not only selling more wine, we're getting more money for it," Clark said.
"This is a great reward for the industry, for all the hard work of grape-growers, winemakers and exporters."
While the report was mostly good news for the Australian wine market, it also revealed that the value of exports to the U.S. and Britain dropped 2 percent each while the volume of wine exported to Canada dropped 3 percent.
The Australian government lodged a formal complaint with the World Trade Organisation in January, accusing Canadian provinces of "discriminatory and anti-competitive behavior" regarding the wine market.
Red wines dominated exports with Shiraz generating 478 million U.S. dollars and Cabernet Sauvignon 271 million U.S. dollars.
