In today’s talking points: Australian to China Wine Exports break records after FTA, Chinese vegetable vendor app is now worth $US2.8billion, Chinese GM rice is one step further to the US market, China’s food delivery market is flourishing
Australian to China Wine Exports break records after FTA
In 2017 the annual value of Australian wine exports to China surged 63% in value, raising total annual by 15% to $AUD2.65billion. By volume, total exports grew 8% to a record of 811 million liters for the calendar year. Meaning 19% of wine produced in Australia, by volume, is sold in China. This growth follows the December 2015 agreement between Australia and China under their FTA to drop tariffs from 20% to approximately 3%. China-based sales of Australian wine came to $AUD848million, which is expected to rise further with the eventual elimination of import duties.
Read more at: Reuters
Chinese vegetable vendor app is now worth $US2.8billion
MeiCai美菜, or ‘beautiful vegetable’, allows users to order specialty vegetables sourced directly from farms. Targeting small-medium sized restaurants across China, MeiCai recently raised $US450million in funding and recently received a valuation of $US2.8billion. By cutting out the middleman, MeiCai is the latest start-up to disrupt the costly restaurant industry in China. According to Preqin, 5 of the largest venture-deals involved China-based companies in 2017.
Read more at: Fortune
Chinese GM rice is one step further to the US market
Huahui 1, a genetically modified rice breed, is reported to have just passed the safety inspections by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Indicating that China is one step closer towards exporting its GM rice to the USA. The Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan (Hubei province), said that the insect-resistant crop was safe and fit for human consumption. Previously the grain had passed pesticide-residue tests conducted by the US EPA.
Read more at: China Daily
China’s food delivery market is flourishing
China’s food delivery market expanded last year with 3.96 trillion yuan in overall revenue, contributed by 300 million users. According to Jiang Junxian from the China Cuisine Association (CCA), young people are the most active consumers using the service. China’s online food delivery market hit 204.6 billion yuan ($31.9 billion) in 2017, 23% higher than 2016. Of those orders 60% are conducted via smartphones. Despite the rapid growth, there is still room to expand according to major industry firms. Food delivery still only accounts for a small part of the whole catering industry, with smaller cities becoming the next major growth points.
Read more at: China Daily