Once upon a time, Chinese investors rushed to acquire Bordeaux vineyards, dreaming of an elegant French lifestyle and lucrative returns in the domestic Chinese market. However, more than a decade later, amidst China’s crackdown on overseas investments, they are hastily offloading these assets.
According to reports by Agence France-Presse (AFP), factors such as China’s capital controls, weakened demand for wine in Asia, and underestimated operating costs of managing estates in France have led to the withdrawal of Chinese buyers once keen on Bordeaux vineyards.
As early as 2009, Chateau Latour Laguens became one of the first Bordeaux vineyards acquired by Chinese enterprises, with the buyers believing the wines produced there would bring substantial profits in the Chinese market.
The new owner of the vineyard was Daisy Cheng Haiyan Cheng, a young heiress of Qingdao Longhai International Trading Co., Ltd. She had outlined a series of development projects for this late medieval architecture, including tasting rooms, boutique shops, and luxury guest rooms.
Subsequently, more than two hundred other estates in the southwest of France were also acquired. Now, in light of China’s clampdown on overseas investments, Chinese investors are rushing to sell off their vineyards.
Chateau Latour Laguens is up for auction with a starting price of 150,000 euros (approximately 162,000 US dollars), excluding the grapevines.
Property broker and Asian market expert Li Lijuan explained that many other vineyards are also being sold at low prices.
She stated that Beijing’s tightening of capital controls has dealt a blow to a market already suffering from oversupply of Bordeaux wines.
In May of this year, Qu Naijie, former chairman of Haichang Group and once a Chinese billionaire, was convicted of corruption by the Chinese authorities. Subsequently, French authorities seized nine vineyards he had acquired in the 2010s.
In 2022, vineyards named “Golden Rabbit,” “Imperial Rabbit,” “Big Impala,” and “Tibetan Antelope,” among others owned by Chinese investors, vanished from the Bordeaux map. After being resold to French investors, these four vineyards promptly reverted to their original names.
Li Lijuan remarked, “Chinese investors are no longer able to invest overseas as their funds are trapped in China.” She noted that currently around 50 Bordeaux vineyards are up for sale.
Due to a scarcity of buyers, some vineyards are being sold for less than half of their purchase prices.