Yang Yujing, mayor of Yinchuan, expresses gratitude that the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles international wine competition will be held in the city in May 2021. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Yinchuan, in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, will host the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles international wine-tasting event in May 2021.

The decision was announced at the close of the 2020 competition in Brno, Czech Republic, on Sunday.

Yang Yujing, mayor of Yinchuan, said that even though local authorities could not be present in Brno, they wanted express their joy and gratitude at being selected as the next host for the competition.

"The wine business has become such an important pillar in Ningxia that we cannot wait to share our passion with many of the brilliant minds in the world of wine," Yang said.

Ningxia's wine region has nearly 40,000 hectares dedicated to vineyards, with more than 90 wineries in six sub-regions.

At an altitude of 1,000 meters, the vineyards of Ningxia extend over the foothills of the Helan mountain range and owe their existence to an irrigation program with water sourced from the Yellow River.

Vineyards in China have experienced a meteoric rise in recent years. With nearly 850,000 hectares under vineyard cultivation, China has become a major player in the international wine industry.

"This is the second time that this kind of international wine event has been held in China. After Beijing, we are heading for Ningxia, China's most promising wine region, which most certainly has some amazing surprises in store for us," said Thomas Costenoble, CEO of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles.

The organization is known for its international competition, in which more than 8,000 wines are entered by producers and judged by a panel of experts.

The tasting sessions for the 28th Concours Mondial de Bruxelles in Yinchuan will be held from May 22 to 24.