The grape output of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region looks set to hit 150 million kilograms, including 80 million kilograms of wine grapes, the local department of forestry said.

Ningxia has four main wine regions scattered around the eastern stretch of Mount Helan, where international wine giants Pernod Ricard, Hennessy and Daylong as well as domestic leading wine producers Chang Yu, Great Wall and Dynasty have all set up branches.

Local wine producers have also sprung up, and their prospects appear promising. The Jia Bei Lan Cabernet dry red 2009 wine from Ningxia's He Lan Qing Xue vineyard won the top award of Best Bordeaux Varietal over 10 pounds at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2011.

In 2004, the region formally classified the wine industry as a local industry which is both competitive and characteristic of the region, as well as one which prioritizes development.

The story is also one of expansion. Before 2004, Ningxia's vineyards occupied a total of 3,733 hectares, whereas today they occupy 25, 200 hectares. The region's 20 wine producers and 6 chateaus total a processing capacity of 99,500 tons, with an annual output exceeding 1 billion yuan (US$157 million).

The region will have 66,667 hectares of vineyards, one grape culture development center, three wine ecological centers, ten grape theme towns and around 100 chateaus, according to the region's 10-year plan to develop grape cultural parks.