This photo taken on Oct. 12, 2026 shows an exterior view of the venue of the opening ceremony of the 47th World Congress of Vine and Wine in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
YINCHUAN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The 47th World Congress of Vine and Wine opened on Monday in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China's top wine-producing area.
This is the first time the congress, held alongside the 24th General Assembly of the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), has been hosted in Asia since its launch in 1924.
The event has drawn more than 800 participants, including delegates from 51 OIV member states, diplomatic envoys to China from 25 countries, representatives from 47 countries and international organizations, leading experts and scholars in the wine sector from at home and abroad, as well as heads of domestic business associations and leading enterprises.
Themed around building a new landscape for the global vine and wine industry, the congress features an opening ceremony, a seminar on high-quality development of the Chinese vine and wine industry, a sci-tech sub-session, industry visits and a closing ceremony.
Over 400 academic papers from 35 countries will be showcased at the sci-tech sub-session, introducing cutting-edge global wine technologies and helping drive the transformation and upgrading of China's vine and wine industry.
The 6th China (Ningxia) International Wine Culture and Tourism Expo opened alongside the congress, attracting 84 world-renowned wineries and enterprises from distinctive production areas in 16 countries. It has also drawn a total of 146 leading domestic wineries from Ningxia and other core production areas in China.
The eastern foot of Helan Mountain in Ningxia has become China's largest contiguous wine grape production area. This region has 607,000 mu, or about 40,467 hectares, dedicated to wine grape cultivation and development, accounting for nearly 42 percent of China's total.
Ningxia, home to 261 wine enterprises, including 130 wineries, produces 140 million bottles of wine annually.
The local wine industry has also become a driver of tourism. Wineries in Ningxia receive more than 3.7 million tourist visits each year, generating combined benefits of over 50 billion yuan (around 7.4 billion U.S. dollars). ■
This photo taken on Oct. 12, 2026 shows the opening ceremony of the 47th World Congress of Vine and Wine held in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
This photo taken on Oct. 12, 2026 shows the opening ceremony of the 47th World Congress of Vine and Wine held in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
A foreign guest learns about Ningxia's wine during the opening ceremony of the 47th World Congress of Vine and Wine in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Oct. 12, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
