'Golden name cards' help China, EU forge market bonds

At the Qingtian Imported Wine Fair in Zhejiang province in November, the scent of oak and grapes mingled with growing business optimism. As visitors sampled wines amid the clinking of glasses, wine importer Wu Jiaxuan was presenting his selections from accredited European chateaus with the aplomb of a connoisseur.

"We source from established chateaus with the European Union's geographical indication certification," explained Wu, who has been in the wine business for four years. "This guarantees a stable supply and, more importantly, ensures consistent quality and authenticity of origin."

A geographical indication, or GI, is a designation used on products originating from a specific region, where the quality, reputation or other characteristics are linked to its geographic origin. Examples include Champagne, tied to the terroir of France's Champagne region, and Jingdezhen porcelain, renowned for local materials and centuries of craftsmanship.

Dong Huijuan, a professor at the Intellectual Property Research Institute of Xiamen University in Fujian province, said collective ownership and an intrinsic link to their place of origin are two defining features of a GI.

"They belong to all qualified producers within a specific region not owned by any single entity, and their unique value stems entirely from their place of origin, its natural conditions or traditional know-how," Dong said.

Coinciding with the wine fair, an international conference focused on China-EU GI cooperation was jointly hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the China-EU Association in Qingtian.

More than 200 guests, including officials, business leaders, experts and foreign guests, gathered to discuss the important role of GIs in boosting bilateral cooperation.

"China has an extraordinary wealth of food, agricultural and artisanal crops. Pu'er tea, Shaoxing wine, Shanxi vinegar, Jinhua ham, so many products that tell the soul of the Chinese regions," said Gilles Pargneaux, a former vice-chair of the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. "In the same way, French vineyards, Greek feta, Spanish olive oil or Italian cheeses are unique expressions of our European lands."

Pargneaux believes that a GI is not only a sign of quality. "It is the taste of a terroir, a climate, a history. Behind every protected product, there are families, landscapes, and living traditions," he said.