Tea export from Guizhou hits $10b in H1

Tea exports from Guizhou province in Southwest China reached $10.43 million in the first half of 2014, up 74 times year-on-year, the provincial customs officials said last Sunday.

The growth rate made tea the third-largest exported agricultural product of this year, following Moutai liquor and flue-cured tobacco.

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Guizhou is the only region in China that enjoys low and high altitude, and low solar radiation and these geographical advantages combined together help the province produce high quality tea.

Packaged tea is sold at more than 2,000 yuan per kilogram in coastal cities.

But, according to Zhang Zhonghua, the general manager of an agricultural company in Guizhou, without deep processing, Guizhou's tea growers are forced to sell green tea to coastal regions at 120 yuan ($19.5) to 160 yuan per kilogram.

Guizhou provincial government announced a three-year plan to upgrade the tea industry in May to support brand building of the sector.

"Tea industry needs awareness, and information on tea industry should be spread via new media channels," said Li Jun, deputy secretary of Guizhou province, who attaches importance to increasing awareness about the tea industry.

Brand building achieved initial success when tea companies saw good harvest.

"We processed 10,000 kilograms of tea per day under standardized production line, and we saw the production value reach 51.2 million yuan for the first half year," said Hu Qingshuang, general manager of Guizhou Gui Tea Co Ltd.

"We are looking forward to seeing the annual value of tea production to hit 2.8 million yuan, up 6 times from a year earlier," said Zhang Zhonghua.