A centre dedicated to promoting the culture of French wine has been planned for Beijing, which may help to sustain the current Chinese taste for Lafite and even expand it into other first growths like Margaux and Mouton-Rothschild.

French politicians have already met with Chinese private investors to discuss the project and it could be opened by the end of the year according to decanter.com, citing French newspaper Sud Ouest.

The Chinese consortium hopes to launch an " embassy with a mission to explain the world of wine to the Chinese general public," as well as forging closer relations with French authorities.

This could go some way towards addressing the problem of counterfeit French wine, which is beginning to damaging its reputation in China.

Chateau Lafite is currently establishing a vineyard in China's Penglai peninsula and hopes to start production from 2015, a recent Independent article reported.