Tea exports to China witnesses a boom

Sri Lanka’s tea exports to China surged 30 percent to 9.9 million kilos in 2017 from the year before, making it the eighth biggest market for Ceylon tea, local media, quoting the Sri Lanka Tea Board said here Thursday.

Minister of Plantation Industries Naveen Dissanayake said the fast growth of the Chinese market showed it had a lot of potential.

“I visited China twice to promote Ceylon tea. We can export more to China,” the Minister said.

Statistics from the Sri Lanka Tea Board showed Ceylon tea exports to China have been rising strongly since 2012 when three million kilos were shipped.

Tea exports to China have risen 230 percent in the past five years, with the growth in 2016 being the fourth highest among the island’s major markets.

The Sri Lankan tea industry provides direct and indirect employment to around 1.5 million people including over 750,00 employed in the tea growing sector.

The livelihood of more than 350,000 smallholders in Sri Lanka depend entirely on tea cultivation. (newsin.asia)