Catalonia’s Agriculture Minister, Òscar Ordeig, opened a professional tasting in Beijing on Friday 18 September, launching the China phase of a campaign promoting Catalan protected-origin wines and cured-meat products to trade buyers.

The initiative is intended to create commercial opportunities for Catalan producers, exporters and food businesses in China, where 312 Catalan agri-food companies already sell products, according to VIA Empresa. Of those companies, 123 export there regularly.

Importers, distributors, specialist media and professionals from the Horeca channel, meaning hotels, restaurants and catering businesses, attended the Beijing tasting. The products presented included wines carrying a Catalan denomination of origin, a protected geographical quality label, alongside sausages and other charcuterie products.

“With this European Union support, we will run an intensive campaign for importers and distributors which, in addition to China, will also be rolled out in Japan and Korea,” Ordeig said.

The CREWAS campaign, The Creative Revolution: European Wines and Charcuterie, is led by Prodeca, the body responsible for leading the initiative, and co-financed by the European Union. It is due to run from October 2026 to October 2029 with a budget of nearly €3 million.

China accounts for more than €655 million in annual exports

China is one of the priority overseas markets for Catalonia’s agri-food sector. Catalan companies export more than €655 million of products there annually, VIA Empresa reported.

  • Agri-food exports from Catalonia to China grew by 153.8% between 2015 and 2025.
  • Imports grew by 92.9% over the same period.
  • Meat and cured meats generated a trade surplus of nearly €485 million.

The figures are reported export and import data, rather than projections. Fine-food products, vegetable oils and wine have also recorded favourable performance in the Chinese market, according to the report.

Hainan meetings and online sales routes

During the institutional visit, Ordeig met authorities in Hainan province to review commitments under a memorandum of understanding signed with Jaume Duch, the Generalitat’s minister for European Union affairs and external action.

The delegation visited Haikou Integrated Free Trade Zone, a logistics and trade platform in southern China. Ordeig will also meet representatives of Catalan brewer Damm and visit the JD.com e-commerce platform to explore promotion and sales routes for Catalan agri-food products.

Reported by viaempresa.cat.