(Cityam) - China is a major driving force in the global wine market and will contribute a third of world wine sales growth between 2016 and 2021, according to data from Euromonitor International.

After five years of stagnation, the wine market is growing again and an extra 3.2bn litres of wine will be bought globally between 2016 and 2021, Euromonitor has predicted. China is expected to buy 1.2bn litres of this total over the next five years.

“Westernisation, aspirational consumption and the surprisingly rapid sophistication of drinking rituals will retain their role as structural drivers for global wine imports into the country,” said Spiros Malandrakis, senior alcoholic drinks analyst at Euromonitor International