SHENGZHOU, People’s Republic of China – The Zhejiang province is one of China’s smallest, but its fertile soil and South China Sea shore dotted with thousands of islands has been a cross road for trade since the 5th century. The Zhejiang sea ports and the Great Canal, reaching down from Beijing, the Northern Capital to Hangzhou have been carrying rice, cereals, silk and tea for many centuries.
With an output of 186,000 metric tons (mt) of mainly green tea in 2018 Zhejiang province ranks 7th amongst the 8 main tea producing provinces and is home to many high quality specialty teas, of which the truly famous “Longjing” tea, which translates as “Dragonwell”, and has been given the title of “Imperial Tea “ by Emperor Kangxi in the 1690ties. Zhejiang is also the main origin for the industrially produced gun powder tea, mainly destined for export to West Africa, the largest market being Morocco, followed by Mauritania and Senegal.
In order to attract attention to the importance of the green tea market, this First International Green Tea Conference was called up in Shengzhou, an hour drive from Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang, which had been designated as China’s Tea capital in 2018.
Here in the heart of the gunpowder tea production and still within the territory of the Longjing tea Protected Origin Appellation (POA, granted by the EU in 2012) a considerable number of important Chinese officials gathered under the guidance of the China Chamber of Commerce for Food and Lifestock (CCCFNA), to discuss how to enhance the green teas on international level and how to further the growth of the export market.
The conference was attended by many foreign guests from more than 30 countries, the biggest delegation coming from Morocco, which has imported 73,000 mt of green tea in 2018, i.e.36% of China’s total tea exports that year.
During the event the participants had the opportunity to attend a “LongJing tea pan frying competition”, where 32 traditional tea workers processed by hand the freshly picked green leaf into made tea ready to brew.
A panel session was held to exchange views between delegates from the North American markets, the USA and Canada, the European markets, UK and Italy, and the West African markets, with Morocco on the stage.
Inspite of bad weather conditions, with heavy rains in early March followed by a sudden cold spell, the early spring harvest was well under way and the tiny leaves and buds were brewed for the foreign guests, who highly appreciate their exquisite fragrance and premium quality.
Before the huge expanding of the Chinese tea production, which has doubled from 2008, with 1,359 million mt to 2018, with 2,616 million mt, the Zhejiang province was the country’s number one tea producer, with the many water ways, its hilly country side, rich soil and favorable climate. However, with a surface of only 101,800km², there is no spare area available for planting more tea, compared to the large territories available in Fujian, Yunnan and Hubei in particular, who are today the three top tea producing provinces.
This First International Green Tea Conference has given credit to the longstanding tea tradition and the many famous specialty teas of Zhejiang whilst looking to the future development.
