(Thedrinksbusiness) - SINCE 2008’S dramatic introduction of zero-rated tax for Hong Kong’s wine and beer imports, the city’s wine trade has undergone an explosive transformation. “There used to be maybe 200 serious wine importers,” says Toby Marion, of US wine specialist Golden Gate Wines. “There’s probably 600 to 700 now, and the number of wine-related companies is said to be over 3,000. That’s a lot of little traders.” According to a Hong Kong government survey conducted in 2010, about 850 new wine-related companies were set up in 2008 and 2009. That brought the total to about 3,550, while the number of people employed in wine-related businesses increased by more than 5,000 to about 40,000.