WINE COUNTRY -- Local wineries and economic-development officials welcomed one of the largest foreign delegations to date on Friday, though they said they didn't take any concrete steps toward large-scale export deals.

Ten governmental, cultural and business officials from the coastal Jiangsu province, just north of Shanghai, visited businesses and cultural organizations during their stay in Southern California, local officials said. Their stop in Wine Country on Friday afternoon was coordinated by executives at a Hemet-based exporter of needles for tattooing and medical uses, participants said.

They were met by senior officials from the area's economic-development organizations, including Dennis Frank, president of the Economic Development Corp. of Southwest California, a group representing businesses and city and county governments in Lake Elsinore, Murrieta and Temecula.

Linda Kissam, director of the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association, called the visit encouraging.

"We were pleased," Kissam said. "We're always pleased when there's an introduction to a potential export market."

But she said it wasn't yet clear how business relationships would develop. The group included a hotel manager, civic organizations and municipal officials from Zhenjiang, a city of about 3 million people some 200 miles northwest of Shanghai. Though members of the group could well be connected to importers, none appeared to work in beverage, restaurant or grocery industries. The group was led by Wang Yu-Guo, an official with the Zhenjiang Culture Bureau.

"We kept on thinking 'Where's the business?'" Kissam said.

If local wineries are able to parlay Friday's introductions into real business relationships, the upside in the world's most populous country could be huge, they hope.

A Temecula winery first dove into Asian markets last year, when Leonesse Cellars began selling to restaurants in Singapore and Hong Kong. Leonesse's co-owner, Mike Rennie, called the region a huge untapped market for California wines, which historically haven't enjoyed the prestige of French wines.

"If you go to Singapore or any of those major ports, they have Australian wines and South African wines," Rennie said, "but they really prefer western products: anything with 'California' on it."

"But you have to get hooked up with a logistics company that has connections in that part of the world," Rennie added.

Contact staff writer Chris Bagley at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2615, or cbagley@californian.com.