South African wines were sixth in order of popularity in the small but growing Chinese market, winemaker and consultant John Weekes, who has been working in the country, said at a seminar in Stellenbosch on Thursday.

He said wine drinking was relatively new in China, with beer and baiju (a spirit made from rice) dominating the market for alcoholic drinks.

But the Chinese government was encouraging the growth of wine imports on the grounds of health because wine has less alcohol than spirits, and to discourage the use of rice for making baiju because it threatened food supplies. The market for imported wine grew tenfold in the last five years to 156 million cases last year.

However, China’s market for imported wine is dominated at present by France and Australia with Italy, the US, Chile and Spain competing strongly. Last year imports from France grew by 92 percent by quantity and 91 percent by value, and those from South Africa grew 73 percent by quantity and 33 percent by value.