Zuo Xinhui, another winery owner in Ningxia, said winemakers have seized the opportunities brought by environmental advantages and government support to develop viticulture and winemaking in the region.

"Good wines only come from high-quality grapes," she said, adding that thanks to abundant sunshine, little rainfall and semi-sandy soil, high-quality and stable grape crops are grown in Ningxia.

"To ensure quality, we transport freshly harvested grapes to the fermentation facility in less than three hours on average. We are very confident that high-quality wines from Ningxia will prove popular with consumers and become a flagship product in the global wine arena."

Purple business card

The aim is for the eastern foothills of Helan Mountain to become a production base for premier wines, and the authorities are looking to export more wines to overseas countries and regions, especially those taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative.

By 2035, this area is expected to have 100,000 hectares of vineyards with an annual production capacity of more than 600 million bottles of wine, a scale similar to that of Bordeaux in France, according to Huang Siming, director of the administrative committee.

Data from the committee show some 130 million bottles of wine were produced in Ningxia last year, with a total value of about 30 billion yuan.

The wines are also making their way to the international stage. The export value last year surged by more than 170 percent year-on-year to a record 5.8 million yuan ($840,000), despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Huang said, "The export potential is huge, as our wines are good, and we sell most of those produced in the region to the domestic market."