The Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival opens on Thursday with organisers and exhibitors hoping to cash in on the explosive growth in demand from wealthy mainland Chinese for the finer things in life.

With 211 wine exhibitors this year, up from 172 last year, organisers at the Tourism Board are hoping the festival’s third annual edition will further establish Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s wine and fine dining hub.

“The level of interest here in Asia and particularly mainland China is impressive,” said Wine and Dine Festival exhibitor Thomas Jullien, from the Bordeaux Wine Council of France. He said sales of Bordeaux wine in Hong Kong and China had doubled annually for the past five years. “It goes with the development and growth of China’s people. With higher spending powers, people have a heightened interest in high-end, prestigious, iconic wine like ours. Bordeaux is a leader in China.”

The four-day market kicks off a series of other food and wine events including the annual International Wine and Spirits Fair and the WineFuture 2011 seminar next month.

Hong Kong became a regional wine centre after the southern Chinese city’s government abolished duties on wine imports in 2008, helping the market expand beyond a handful of local connoisseurs and expatriates.