Exports of Portuguese wine were worth 14.25 million euros (about US$16.28 million) last year, 9.55 per cent more than the year before, when the value dropped, Lusa says, citing ViniPortugal.

A written statement issued by the Portuguese wine industry association describes last year as “highly positive” for exports of Portuguese wine worldwide, the annual value rising by 8.11 percent to over 925 million euros, the Portuguese news agency reported on Wednesday.

ViniPortugal President Frederico Falcão said the rate of increase last year was almost twice the rate the year before, in part because of what he called “huge growth” in new markets, such as China, Lusa reported.

Last month a newspaper in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, the Chengdu Business Daily, quoted Mr Falcão as saying 10 vintners in six important wine-producing regions of Portugal would show off hundreds of wines at the China (Chengdu) Food and Drinks Fair, to be held in March.