ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a first-hand and analytical account of the growth in wine education in Mainland China over the 2008-2013 period. It investigates the characteristics and dynamics of the overall mainland Chinese wine markets, contrasting imported and domestic sectors – including the latest and most reliable data concerning imports (for the JanuarySeptember 2013 period).1 It traces the origins and current performance of the imported sector – especially in light of President Xi Jinping’s “antiextravagance measures”– and compares this overall growth with the general rise in wine education in the Chinese mainland. The chapter explains how the demand for wine education has grown and how the UK’s Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) has dominated the education market, observing the latest WSET figures for the academic year 2012-2013 and comparing these with earlier data, not least with respect to uptake of the WSET’s courses and examinations in Mandarin Chinese.
