Last April's visit to Vinitaly of Jack Ma, founder of the mighty Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and richest man in China has brought to light Italy’s position in China’s wine market as well as its tremendous potential going forward.  The reception to his speech brought mixed reviews within the Italian wine industry.

However, after 22 years living in Hong Kong and working in China, I have learned to look at its dynamics with a macroeconomic approach rather than focus too much on the microeconomics of everyday.