Changli to launch private vineyard investment project

Wine enthusiasts in Hebei province can now purchase a private vineyard and build their own winery in the Changli wine region.

The ‘One Mu Vineyard’ project launched earlier this month and allows private investors to buy a minimum of one mu (0.07 hectare) of vineyard in the Changli wine region, Hebei province. By proportion investors also have access to some construction land to build their own wineries or houses, said officials.

The project follows a series of ‘private winery’ projects launched in China’s wine regions in recent years, marking these regions’ efforts to boost the local wine industry with private investments.

Investors are encouraged to ‘involve their family and friends to invest together’ on a patch of vineyard as small as one mu to as big as 1000 mu, Liu Xuebin, party secretary of the Changli County, told local media.

Private owners can monitor their vineyard at any time online; once grapes are ripe, owners can choose to make wines themselves, or hire a local winery to make and bottle the wine for them, said official.

Similar projects launched in recent years include the Taila International Chateau Ecological Culture Area in Shandong province, China’s biggest wine producing region. The project is consulted by Gérard Colin, former technical manager of Lafite and CITIC’s vineyard project in Shandong, according to the official website.

The Taila project allows investors to own a chosen size of vineyard for 10 years. One plot (1/10 mu) of private vineyard is priced at RMB18,000 (£1800), said the company.