From June 27 to 30, the 2024 Bordeaux Wine Festival will be held in Bordeaux, France. The eastern foot of Helan Mountain Wine Region in Ningxia was invited to represent China's wine regions for the first time at this international wine event to show visitors the development achievements of China's wine industry.

Yi Guotao, executive deputy secretary general of Ningxia Helan Mountain Grape and Wine Association, said that the producing area organized 15 wineries with 60 wines to participate in the exhibition, which also held the "Ningxia - Bordeaux friendship Night" promotion activities, Bordeaux wineries cultural exchange activities.

"It is a great honor to be the first wine region in China to be invited to participate in this event, which is an affirmation of the quality of wines from the eastern foot of Helan Mountain. We will take advantage of the platform of the Bordeaux Wine Festival to actively promote the integration of Ningxia and Bordeaux in wine technology and culture, and promote cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and France." Yi Guotao said.

As the world's wine mecca, Bordeaux enjoys a worldwide reputation for its excellent wine quality and profound cultural heritage. Since its inception in 1998, the Bordeaux Wine Festival has developed over the years, not only becoming a proud cultural heritage of the locals, but also attracting many wine lovers from all over the world, and has now become one of the largest wine events in the world.

"As a platform for showcasing skills and promoting sustainability, the mission of the Bordeaux Wine Festival is to inspire more people to explore the vineyards, step foot on the ground, touch the vines, enter the cellars, explore Bordeaux's wines and terroir together, and learn about the work of a new generation of wine practitioners." Christophe Chateau, promotion director of the French Bordeaux Wine Industry Association, said that for the first time, China was invited to participate in the festival because of the excellent performance of the Ningxia Helan Mountain eastern wine region in recent years, and the close cooperation with the Bordeaux wine region, "more than 40 Ningxia wines have been displayed in the Bordeaux wine City for three years."

The wine region at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in Ningxia is close to the producing area of Bordeaux in France in latitude. It is recognized by the industry as one of the golden areas most suitable for growing wine grapes and producing high-end wines in the world. In 2013, it was compiled into the World Wine Map and became a new section of the world wine producing area. By the end of 2023, Ningxia's wine grape planting and development area is 602,000 mu, which is the largest wine grape concentrated contiguous production area in China. With an annual output of 140 million bottles of wine, it ranks first in the country in terms of wine production, and its comprehensive output value exceeds 40 billion yuan. Over the years, Ningxia and Bordeaux have maintained close cooperation in grape cultivation, wine-making technology, cultural exchanges and other aspects to jointly promote the prosperity and development of the wine industry.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and France and the Year of China-France Culture and Tourism. The Sino-French Joint Statement on Agricultural Exchanges and Cooperation reached in May this year pointed out that the deepening ties between China and France in the field of viticulture and winemaking are also reflected in France's support for China's accession to the International Organization of Viticulture and Wine (OIV) in 2024, and France is willing to continue to pay attention to the development of China's grape and wine industry. Jointly enhance the development level of grape and wine industry.

"China's entry into the OIV is of great significance to the development of the world wine industry, conducive to the continuous improvement of the international status and recognition of domestic wine, conducive to promoting Chinese wine to go out, and have more opportunities to carry out exchanges and cooperation with wine regions and countries in variety, technology, education, talent, culture and other aspects." Huang Siming, director of the Management Committee of the Wine Industry Park at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in Ningxia, said that Bordeaux producing areas will be invited to participate in the China (Ningxia) International Wine Culture and Tourism Expo scheduled to be held in Ningxia in August, and continue to promote the exchanges and cooperation between the wine industry of China and France.