Only Chinese wines should be served at National Day celebrations in Hong Kong, ex-leader says

“It is inexcusable and unjustifiable not to drink Chinese wines on National Day.”

The Post has reached out to the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and Chief Executive’s Office for comment.

Leung, a vice-chairman of the country’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, led Hong Kong from 2012 to 2017.

In recent years, he has been promoting wines produced by cellars in Ningxia, an autonomous region in north-central mainland China.

Ningxia wine was served by Chinese President Xi Jinping to French leader Emmanuel Macron last year when they met in Beijing.

Xi visited Ningxia in 2016 and 2020 and has said its grape wine had excellent market potential, urging better promotion to create a well-known brand.

Jacky Cheung Yiu-shing, president of the Wine Association of Hong Kong, said serving Chinese alcohol at National Day celebrations would be a great opportunity to promote the products.

He said the market share of Chinese wine stood at less than 10 per cent in the city.

“China only started systematic and large-scale wine production about three decades ago. The wine quality has gradually increased in recent years, but it might not be comparable yet with the products from the century-old vineyards,” he said.

“It also takes time to build a brand and for a product to be widely accepted in a new market.”

Cheung said Chinese wine was relatively more popular on the mainland due to the tax imposed on imported wine.

A downturn in the bar and catering business following the pandemic, coupled with a trend of residents heading north to spend, had also made it harder to promote Chinese wine in Hong Kong, he said.

Shuai Zekun, a veteran connoisseur with the online site of American critic James Suckling, said the quality of Chinese wine had improved significantly in the past decade, but the trade volume was low and although brands had lowered their prices, it remained relatively unaffordable.

Chinese offerings only accounted for 500 out of 40,000 wines tasted by his company each year, he added.

He said that while Hong Kong had long been the mainland’s window to the international market, he found Leung’s call for making Chinese wine mandatory at October 1 events a bit extreme.

“Agricultural products like wine are strongly linked to their origin,” he said. “It’s natural to support and feel proud of them, which is not necessarily driven by nationalist attitudes.”