China's wine output has been growing by 15 percent annually in the recent three years, meaning more job opportunities and better lives of many Chinese farmers.

Driven by soaring wine demand, the grape planting bases in Shandong, Hebei, Gansu, Xinjiang and Ningxia have been expanding quickly, creating more job opportunities for local farmers and increasing their income, said a report of the China National Wine Quality Supervision and Inspection Center.

According to the report, there are 46 wine companies in Penglai of east China's Shandong Province. More than 30,000 farmers are planting grapes for the companies.

Xintian International Liquor Company Ltd. in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has 10,005 hectares of planting areas. The company provides a total of 300 million yuan for 20,000 farmers who plant grapes for it.

The report also said the nation's wine industry needs to create more diversified products to maintain its healthy development.

The mechanized production of wine in China started in 1892.

(Xinhua News Agency July 23 2007)