The 13th Yantai International Wine Exposition is expected to take place in Yantai, Shandong province from June 16 to 18. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 13th Yantai International Wine Exposition will take place in Yantai, Shandong province from June 16 to 18.

A platform for promoting the high-quality development of Yantai's wine industry, this year's expo is themed "Brand, Culture and Cooperation" and is aimed at bolstering the development of the city’s wine clusters, supporting facilities and industrial chains.

Hosted by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-products and organized by the Yantai commerce bureau, the event will include an opening ceremony, the unveiling of the Chateau Tinlot, boutique wine-tasting activities, the World Wine Industry Congress, the China Grape Wine Industrial Chain Cooperation Conference and the 2023 China (Yantai) Exhibition Industry Development Conference.

Activities including forums, exhibitions and wine-tasting events will also be held in Yantai's Zhifu, Laishan, Penglai districts and the Huangbohai New Area.

Renowned brands and new products

Covering a total exhibition area of 21,000 square meters, the expo consists of a vineyard boutique hall, an internationally renowned brand hall and a grape wine industrial chain hall with about 1,000 booths, a new record in terms of the scale and the number of participating companies.

The expo will have a Georgia Pavilion for the first time and feature many well-known domestic and foreign brands from countries such as France, Spain, South Africa and Chile.

Major domestic wine producing areas such as the autonomous regions of Xinjiang Uygur, Ningxia Hui and Gansu, Liaoning and Jilin provinces will also display about 20,000 grape wine products at the expo.

To thank buyers for their support and trust, the expo will offer benefits such as shuttle bus transport, professional sommelier services and an exclusive wine business networking event.

Immersive experiences

Participants of the expo can look forward to a wide variety of events, including masterclasses, sommelier competitions, study tours, as well as lectures, business negotiations and winery visits.

Expo participants will also get to see robots offering free wine ice cream and providing interactive services at various booths.

One of the highlights of this year's expo is the 9th China Young Sommelier Team Competition, which will gather outstanding sommeliers from around the world.

The expo will also hold the first "Grape Wine Cup" cultural and creative competition, which is aimed at enhancing the aesthetic knowledge and awareness of wine among the younger generation.

Industrial development

The Yantai wine industry has been developing rapidly in recent years as the city has been ramping up efforts to become a world-renowned grape wine producing region and an internationally renowned grape wine cultural city. This is evidenced by the value of the Yantai Grape Wine brand soaring to 85.9 billion yuan ($11.98 billion).

Three high-end industrial conferences - the World Wine Industry Congress, the China Grape Wine Industrial Chain Cooperation Conference and the 2023 China (Yantai) Exhibition Industry Development Conference - will be held to promote international exchange and cooperation in the grape wine industry. Industry experts and representatives from well-known companies will conduct lectures, share experiences and showcase new products and brands during these conferences.

The World Wine Industry Congress aims to guide the innovation of brand culture and product quality, and will feature aspects such as grape wine technologies and lectures on cultural innovation.

The China Grape Wine Industrial Chain Cooperation Conference focuses on exploring the development of the upstream and downstream industrial chains such as planting, processing, ecology, catering, health, tourism and services. The conference features themes such as wine and tourism integration and the digital transformation of the grape wine industrial chain.

The 2023 China (Yantai) Exhibition Industry Development Conference will be focused on how exhibitions can promote the development of modern industries and serve as a platform for the sharing of ideas regarding the development of Yantai's exhibition industry.