Chinese tea market opens for India, buyer-seller meets held

Industry encouraged to take part in China exhibitions

KERALA: KOCHI: 28/01/2013: Plantation worker plucking tea leaves at a plantation in Wayanad, Kerala.The Indian tea industry has finally breached the one billion kg-mark in production propelled by small tea growers. According to the Tea Board, India had actually produced 75 million kg more than the 988 million it was estimated to have produced between January and December 2011. The board started notifying the 2011 revised figures from December and the exercise, now completed, shows Indian tea crop to be 1063.5 million kg. The share of bought leaf factory (from the small tea growers) is around 29 per cent, on January 28, 2013. Photo: K.K. Mustafah

The Chinese tea market is opening up for India. A delegation from the China Tea Marketing Association (CTMA) is planning to visit the country tentatively next month.

This follows the visit of a 30-member-strong official delegation led by Tea Board of India Deputy Chairman Arun Kumar Ray to neighbouring country in October 2018. “I am optimistic about the prospects of India’s tea exports to China,” Mr. Roy told The Hindu.

The delegation’s visit lasted four days from October 21. Tea trade and industry also participated at a tea fair and exhibition at Xiamen where Indian teas were introduced to the local buyers.

Rewarding interaction

However, it was the interaction with the members of the China Tea Marketing at Beijing and the members of the China Chamber of Commerce of Foodstuffs and Native Produce ( CFNA) that proved to be the most rewarding, a delegation member said. CTMA aims to play the role of an intermediary for the Chinese tea industry and the business.

Indian tea industry members and trade were encouraged by their Chinese counterparts to participate in future exhibitions to familiarise Indian teas. Individual buyer-seller meets were also held. The delegation was also taken to the Maliandao Tea Street where an avenue showcases Chinese teas.

Past visits by Indian tea industry representatives have mostly been part of Food and Agricultural Organisation meetings, it was learnt.

Chinese youth are now preferring black teas and black tea-based beverages and speciality teas, an industry source said adding that there are complementarities between the two countries as regards their tea consumption habits. The delegation was told that tea is a very popular beverage in China which grows around 2500 million kg annually and consumes around 2000 million kg. It exports green teas and is keen to import black teas which are now mainly sourced from Sri Lanka and India.

China imported 8.3 million kg from India in 2017 at a value of ₹173.9 crore against 5.5 million kg in 2016. Between April and September 2018, China imported 4.35 million kg of tea from India against 3.76 million kg a year ago.