On June 6, Assistant Minister of Commerce Qiu Hong pointed out that in recent years, China's tea industry has developed rapidly, the scale of the industry has continued to expand and the volume of tea exports have frequently hit new highs. In 2008, China's overall area of tea plantations and total output of tea both ranked the first in the world, while the volume of tea exports ranked third. The persistent expansion of the scale of tea exportation has played an important role in raising the level and competitiveness of China's tea industry and increasing the income of China's tea growers.

Qiu Hong said in the opening address of the International Tea Convention and Expo 2009 that in 2008 the overall area of China's tea plantations totaled 1.6 million hectares, and tea output volume reached 1.24 million tons, accounting for 1/3 of the world's total tea output. In 2008, China exported a total of 297,000 tons of tea, with a value of 682 million USD, lower only than that of Kenya and Sri Lanka.

By People's Daily Online