ADELAIDE, Australia, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- While the inaugural China International Import Expo (CIIE) last year brought him "resounding success", Australian winemaker Mark Kozned expected to see more achievements at the second CIIE.

"CIIE is a fantastic event and I would encourage everyone to go if there is an opportunity," said Kozned, managing director of Nova Vita group in South Australia.

"It seems to me to be probably the biggest platform for China and international companies to come together and find ways to work together," he said.

The first CIIE attracted more than 3,600 companies to hold discussions and sought common development with over 400,000 purchasers from China and overseas.

According to Hannah Bentley, communications manager with Wine Australia, the presence at CIIE last year contributed to broader export objectives.

"Our latest export figures for the 12 months to the end of September reported a 7 percent per annum value export growth across all export markets, including 18 percent value growth in exports to China," she told Xinhua.

"This year's CIIE kicks off a big month of events, with Australian wine producers travelling to Shanghai for back-to-back trade and media engagement opportunities," she said.

While China is a major market for Australian wine, South Australia produces about 60 percent of wine in the entire country.

Kozned found out about CIIE about 18 months ago, and it was through an initiative from the South Australian government that Nova Vita got involved.

"We established four or five new relationships and two of those relationships within a month led to orders from China, which is a fantastic success rate," he said.

They also launched the GK entrepreneur, a premium wine, at the first CIIE. "We produced 6,000 bottles for the first round," he said. "We sold out within three months from CIIE."

He said that they looked to broaden their market. "We are in the east coast," he said. "We are trying to look for markets in what I would call second and third tier, moving into central China or even in northwest or southwest market."

This year they are going to take with them the new labels of their wine, some using the artwork of a Chinese artist while others designed by an Australian leading label designer. They will also launch a new handmade reserve label.

Another progress for their company in the Chinese market is that they will launch their shop on China's online retailing website JD.com. "It exposes our access to a broader market, not just the corporate market, but the individual market of people," said Kozned.

"I just love the Chinese market," he said. "I think the consumers are becoming more educated about wine," he said.