(Yicai Global) Feb. 20 -- China imported 30 percent more Chilean wine last year to maintain its spot as the product's number one export market after taking the crown in 2016.

The world's fourth-largest wine market bought in some USD254 million worth of Chilean wine, state-owned news agency Xinhua reported, citing data from trade association Wines of Chile shows. In volumetric terms, imports soared nearly 24 percent to more than eight million cases.

China is on track to become the second biggest-wine market by value in 2020 with sales topping USD21 billion, Xinhua reported in February 2017, citing Guillaume Deglise, chief executive of the world's leading wine and spirit exhibition VINEXPO. It currently runs behind the U.S., the U.K. and France.

Chile's Concha y Toro, one of the world's biggest winemakers, exports most of its output to China.

"The key is in the quality of Concha y Toro wines," said Alejandro Schwartzmann, manager of exports and marketing in Asia for the brand. "A group of oenologists with a high degree of expertise can make a very good quality wine at an accessible price and with different price segments."

The free trade agreement between the two countries has significantly contributed to increasing Chile's wine exports to China, he added.