Attitudes towards Italian wine of practitioners in the Chinese distribution

China’s economy has grown at an impressive rate after the integration into the global trading system (WTO) in 2001, a major turning point in the Chinese economic history. The opening policy has increased business opportunities for both local and foreign operators; however, in spite of the great appeal of such cooperation, many obstacles yet exist: language, culture, education, business practices, and industrial development. Food products supply and access to the market are mastered by a relatively small group of businessmen: international buyers, purchasing agents, retailers and representatives of large-scale distribution chains. The perception they have of a potential source country is a key factor for a successful market approach. The present study aims at understanding the attitudes of distribution practitioners in the Chinese market towards imported Italian quality wine, as well as the current communication, marketing, strategic and organizational advantages or deficiencies of Italian producers, compared to other European counterparts. The primary data were collected through personal interviews with key informants in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Such information has been completed with an analysis of the existing literature, meetings with sector operators as well as with talks and presentations of experts attending the “International Workshop on Chinese Wine Market”, held in Beijing on August 8-10, 2007. The interviews have been administered as conversation-like dialogues, on the base of a semi-structured interview outline, providing also the framework for a qualitative content analysis. This paper is aimed at giving an insight on import and distribution of Italian wine in China, highlighting both positive and negative feedbacks on the effectiveness of marketing strategies of Italian wine trading companies.