Tea to help refresh Sichuan's economy

Sichuan province has long been regarded as a land of plenty, with tea being just one of the many resources it boasts.

Drinking green tea has been an indispensable part of Sichuan people's lives since time immemorial, and tea has long played a major role in the local economy.

Li Bai, one of the greatest poets of the Tang Dynasty, is even said to have raised his teacup to the skies and acclaimed the elegance of Mengshan green tea from Sichuan.

As early as AD 641, local people started to sell Ya'an green tea to areas as far afield as the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

Since the May 12 earthquake struck last year, local people have been rebuilding their homes. They are also striving to rebuild the local tea industry, which has benefited from stronger policy and financial support from the government.

Sichuan has long been a major area for the growing of tea and has developed many famous brands, with the tea industry becoming a pillar industry of the province.

The upcoming 2009 International Tea Convention & Expo will serve to promote these local brands and highlight local people's determination to rebuild their hometowns and the tea industry. The convention, organized by the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce & Animal By-Products, will take place in Chengdu from June 6 to 8.

Sichuan's tea output reached 139,000 tons in 2008, with the province boasting 174,667 hectares of tea fields, up from 168,000 hectares in the previous year. The output of this year's spring tea has already reached 69,000 tons, worth around 1.8 billion yuan. More than three million people in Sichuan work in the tea industry.

China has long been a major tea producer and trader. Last year, it produced 1.24 million tons, accounting for one-third of the world's total tea output, ranking first in the world.

In addition, the nation exported 297,000 tons of tea products in 2008. On June 6, when the International Tea Convention & Expo opens, about 1,000 tea association leaders, traders and tea culture experts from home and abroad will gather in Chengdu.

(China Daily 06/01/2009 page10)