(TDB) - The Western Australian wine industry is being forced to reassess the extent of its reliance on China after seeing a sharp fall in sales and volume.

According to the ABC, new export figures reveal wine exports from WA to China in the 12 months to July 2014 were down 25% by volume and 20% in sales.

The national wine industry body, Wine Australia, said the value of the states exports to china fell from $AUD41.6 million (£23.4m) to $AUD33.4m (£18.8m).

Most alarmingly the drops have occurred despite a considerable focus on the growing Chinese market following exponential growth from the early to mid 2000’s until 2013 during which time China became WA’s single biggest export market.

WA Wine Industry Association chief executive Larry Jorgensen said shifts in Chinese domestic policy are a key factor: “We think it’s happening because of the austerity measures everyone has heard about that the Chinese government has implemented because of a bit of ostentatious behaviour in gift-giving on the part of government officials,”

“That’s had an effect to some extent and there’s a possibility as well, I suppose, that other countries have taken some of the market share we were dealing in previously.

“I think people are re-assessing how much they put focus onto China and are starting to consider other markets.”

The slump comes on the back of a difficult period for Western Australian producers as global economic struggles and an unfavourable exchange rate have been compounded by difficulties relating to domestic sales.