There are good probability that China, within a few years, will assume an important role among the outlets of the made in Italy agri-food. Even if the Asian country is currently in 22nd place among the destination markets, with an incidence of 0,8% on overall exports.
In the entire 2011 vintage it emerges, from an Ismea analysis on the Italy-China trade, which the exports of our agri-food products to the country of the Dragon, amounting to approximately 250 million euros, are increased in value by 30% (+66% for the primary sector alone), while on the imports front (approximately 590 million) the data show slower growth, just over +18%.
Wine, chocolate and vegetable fats (olive oil in particular) are the most popular Italian product categories, accounting for 73,5% of total Italian exports beyond the Great Wall.
In 2011, based on GTI data (Chinese Customs source) processed by Ismea, Italy shipped 31 million liters of wine to China for a value of about 68 million euros. This is a still limited share (6,5% in value) which sees Italy only in fifth place among wine suppliers in a market dominated by the French product (51,9%), but which has very high growth potential . Suffice it to say that from 2009 to 2011 the export of Italian wines to China quadrupled both in terms of volumes and monetary considerations. In addition to France, the list of suppliers includes, ahead of Italy, Australia, Chile and Spain.
Italy, as emerges from the Ismea analysis, is instead at the top of the list of chocolate supplier countries and other cocoa-based preparations, ahead of Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. In 2011, China imported a total of 31 thousand tons for a value of 165 million euros. Of these, 44% in value and 38% in volume are of Italian origin.
For olive oil, which is the third most exported tricolor product in Beijing, Italy ranks second behind Spain, with a market share that in 2011 however dropped in value to 23,4% (it was 35% in 2010), in a phase of strong growth of Chinese imports .
Among the symbolic products of Made in Italy, pasta, despite a growing trend, is still far from establishing itself in the eating habits of the Asian giant. Overall, in 2011, China bought about 22 tons of foreign pasta (28 million euros in value), of which almost 30% came from Italy, which holds the largest market share ahead of Taiwan and South Korea.
Imports from China, concludes the study, instead represent 1,5% of total Italian agri-food imports and are made up for over two thirds of vegetables and legumes, tomato-based preserves and fish products.
