China has begun an anti-dumping investigation into all brandy imported from the European Union.

Customs data show that China imported US$1.57 billion worth of spirits from distilled grape wine in the 11 months to the end of November with France accounting for 99.8% of all EU brandy exports.

Cognac is by far the biggest-selling imported spirit category in China because of its luxury cachet.

In 2022 China came closer to eclipsing the United States as Cognac’s biggest export market which took 50% of the spirit’s global exports.

In September, the EU said it would begin an anti-dumping investigation into imports of electric vehicles and components from China.   Last month it extended that to also cover biodiesel products.

Beijing’s said its investigation will cover all brandy from the EU in containers of less than 200 litres.

The commerce ministry said the move was prompted by a complaint from the China Alcoholic Beverages Association on behalf of the domestic brandy industry.

The Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac said it would fully cooperate with Chinese authorities but said it believes the probe is linked to the broader trade dispute rather than the market for spirits.