Europeans are aggressively marketing their wine and cheese dining culture to China’s expanding middle class.

The following is not a full transcript; for full story, listen to audio.

BBC World Service correspondent Mukul Devichand traveled to Shanghai to explore the profound impact of new European foods to Chinese society, and found that the culinary market there is already crowded:

At a Chinese radio station, on-air personalities tout the virtues of pairing the proper wines with the proper cheese, eating pasta and enjoying a good cigar.

British, French and Portuguese foodies are pushing gastronomy and fine dining to a remarkable new class of Chinese citizens.

The problem is, parmesan, cheddar and brie are pretty alien to the Chinese palate. Despite over 3000 years of Chinese fine dining, it’s only from the 20th century that dairy products were really consumed in China — many there remain lactose intolerant.

The solution for European marketers is to educate Chinese consumers.

At a wine seminar, a young French woman explained what drew her to China, “Even though we are in the middle of an economic crisis, we see an increase every single week, of Europeans landing here with their suitcases and a dream, and they want to make it. Of course the hope of making money is also part of it, but I would say that creating jobs in my own country, in my own region and creating jobs for my family’s neighbors is a big part of it.”

By BBC World Service. Hear the radio clip on the Cheese for Chinese.