(ABC) - For Australian winemakers, the Chinese market is booming.

For the first time they have sold more than $1 billion in their biggest export market — and it is only going to get much, much bigger.

But the Chinese are now pushing back, planning to become the world's top number winemakers and produce top-quality wines to win back their own consumers.

Big ambitions

It's early morning in Ningxia, China's premier wine growing region. The air is cold and crisp — ideal for harvesting grapes.

On the edge of the Gobi desert, Ningxia was once arid land but in less than 20 years the Chinese have built a massive wine industry here.

Liao Zusong is the chief winemaker at Pigeon Hills, the biggest winery in Ningxia, and is directing the harvest.