Sartori also quoted "Italian sounding," or the use of names and images that evoke Italy to promote foreign brands, among the problems faced by the wine sector.

Awareness-building among Chinese consumers, who have shown increasing attention to the high quality of products, will be another task of the project, he said.

Sartori also told Xinhua that fortunately Italian wine exports were not negatively affected, as feared by many local producers, by China's antidumping and anti-subsidy probe into wine imported from the European Union. Earlier this month, the two sides reached an agreement to end the probe.

China had initiated the investigations last year into wine imports from the European Union, especially from main producers in France, Spain and Italy, in response to petitions from domestic associations.

"The diplomacies have worked well and the result was positive," he said.