Reprinted in: China Tea Circulation Association
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/JcL0ww7dHZKaGexvKXoiaA

执笔人：梅宇，梁晓

In 2023, under the guidance of the "Three Teas" coordinated thinking, the Chinese tea industry actively responded to the market environment of insufficient effective domestic demand, weak external demand, and complex changes, took advantage of the situation, optimized and adjusted, and ensured the stability of the basic market. During the year, the governance of excessive packaging was carried out in an orderly manner, and various tea events were held in various places. The new Chinese tea industry continued to advance vigorously and planned overseas layout. The listing of Lancang Ancient Tea in Hong Kong shares provided a new imagination space for the traditional original leaf tea industry to land in the capital market. New consumption hotspots such as "intangible cultural heritage", "China-Chic" and "mixed drinks" also continued to emerge. At the same time, tea culture and tea science and technology have given strong support to boost the industry - Puer Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Landscape has been included in the World Heritage, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has launched "Tea and the World · Gathering", "Tea · World: Special Exhibition of Tea Culture", "Tea in the Sun and the Moon: Asian Tea Culture Exhibition" and other exhibition activities, to strengthen the international status of Chinese tea and strengthen the cultural confidence of countrymen people; The international standard ISO 20715:2023 "Classification of Tea" led by a team of Chinese scientists was officially released in April and is expected to be officially applied in the World Customs Harmonized System in 2028, providing significant support and broad space for Chinese tea in international trade.

In order to objectively demonstrate the production and sales situation of Chinese tea in 2023 and continuously promote the sustainable and healthy development of the Chinese tea industry, the "2023 China Tea Production and Sales Situation Report" is now released.

1、 Production situation

In 2023, the national tea production will overcome adverse effects such as droughts and floods, and the tea planting area, yield, and output value will steadily increase. The green and low-carbon transformation and technology integration demonstration will continue to advance, and the trend of diversified industrial paths and segmented industrial chains will be evident. Multiple regions have expanded from "single season tea" to "three season tea". Each production area attaches great importance to brand building and market expansion, and tea related activities have become unprecedentedly prosperous, continuously driving significant income growth for farmers.

（1） Main indicators show a moderate increase

1. The gradual increase in tea garden area is controllable

In recent years, various regions have attached great importance to controlling the growth of tea garden area, and the growth rate of newly added tea gardens has continued to narrow. In 2023, the total area of tea gardens in China was 51.4976 million mu, an increase of 1.5436 million mu year-on-year, with a growth rate of 3.09%. The total area of tea gardens exploited nationwide is 46.5016 million mu, an increase of 1.1027 million mu year-on-year. There are still 4.996 million acres of new tea gardens that have not been mined nationwide.

2. Stable growth in tea production

Affected by the arid climate, there will be a slight reduction in early spring tea production nationwide in 2023. However, the significant increase in tea production in the later stages of the spring tea season and summer and autumn has driven the continuous growth of tea production throughout the year. According to statistics, the total production of dry tea in China in 2023 will be 3.3395 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 158000 tons or 4.98%.

3. Synchronous increase in agricultural output value

In 2023, the total output value of dry tea in China will be 329.668 billion yuan, an increase of 11.601 billion yuan or 3.65% year-on-year.

4. The structure of tea is basically stable

In terms of output. In 2023, the national green tea production was 1.934 million tons, an increase of 80000 tons or 4.3%, accounting for 57.9% of the total production; 491000 tons of black tea, an increase of 9000 tons or 1.9%, accounting for 14.7% of the total production; Black tea produced 458000 tons, an increase of 32000 tons or 7.4%, accounting for 13.7% of the total output; Oolong tea produced 333000 tons, an increase of 21500 tons or 6.9%, accounting for 10.0% of the total output; 100000 tons of white tea, an increase of 5600 tons or 6.0%, accounting for 3.0% of the total output; 23000 tons of yellow tea, an increase of 10000 tons or 78.4%, accounting for 0.7% of the total production.

In terms of output value. In 2023, the national green tea output value will be 206.06 billion yuan, accounting for 62.5% of the total output value; An increase of 240 million yuan, representing a growth rate of 0.1%. Black tea is 51.97 billion yuan, accounting for 15.8% of the total output value; An increase of 1.03 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 2.0%. Black tea is 31.04 billion yuan, accounting for 9.4% of the total output value; An increase of 4.18 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 13.5%. Oolong tea is 28.85 billion yuan, accounting for 8.7% of the total output value; An increase of 3.37 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 11.7%. White tea is 8.7 billion yuan, accounting for 2.6% of the total output value; An increase of 900 million yuan, with a growth rate of 10.4%. Yellow tea was 3.05 billion yuan, an increase of 1.87 billion yuan, accounting for 0.9% of the total output value.

（2） The production situation is basically stable

In 2023, the overall climate situation in China will deviate, with obvious characteristics of warm and dry climate. Affected by the continuous high temperature and drought in the summer and autumn of the previous year in the Yangtze River Basin, as well as the low temperature in early spring of that year, the extraction of spring tea in China has been postponed, and the production of "Mingqian" and "Yuqian" tea in many provinces has decreased. Famous and excellent teas have been greatly affected, but the total production of spring tea is basically the same as the previous year. Entering summer and autumn, due to the continuous improvement of tea processing technology and tea garden management level in various regions in recent years, the scope of tea harvesting in summer and autumn continues to expand, and the yield has significantly increased compared to previous years.

（3） Prominent issues still need to be resolved

Overall, the main problems are: firstly, the infrastructure of tea gardens is weak and greatly affected by meteorological disasters; Secondly, production costs continue to rise; Thirdly, the pressure on the tea consumption side has increased, and the supply and demand of products are not precise; Fourthly, there is an imbalance in the supply side structure.

2、 Domestic sales situation

In 2023, due to the slow recovery of consumer demand and the impact of sales channels, the total domestic sales of Chinese tea remained basically unchanged, with a slight decline in the total domestic sales, and the overall performance fell short of expectations.

（1） The total domestic sales volume is basically unchanged

In 2023, the total domestic sales of tea in China reached 2.404 million tons, an increase of 0.7 million tons or 0.3%. Among the six major tea categories, green tea and black tea, which account for the largest proportion of internal sales, saw a slight decrease, while the rest of the tea categories saw a slight increase. Specifically, the internal sales volume of green tea was 1.289 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.6%, accounting for 53.6% of the total internal sales volume; 379000 tons of black tea, a year-on-year decrease of 0.7%, accounting for 15.7% of the total domestic sales volume; 378000 tons of black tea, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%, accounting for 15.7% of the total domestic sales volume; Oolong tea reached 256000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.2%, accounting for 10.7% of the total domestic sales volume; 83000 tons of white tea, a year-on-year increase of 1.6%, accounting for 3.4% of the total domestic sales volume; 19000 tons of yellow tea, accounting for 0.8% of the total domestic sales volume.

（2） The total domestic sales volume has slightly decreased

In 2023, the total domestic sales of tea in China reached 334.67 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.85 billion yuan and a correction of about 1.4%. Among them, the domestic sales of green tea reached 197.83 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 6.3%, accounting for 59.1% of the total domestic sales; Black tea was 56.09 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.6%, accounting for 16.8% of the total domestic sales; Black tea was 35.86 billion yuan, an increase of 11.6% year-on-year, accounting for 10.7% of the total domestic sales; Oolong tea reached 31.1 billion yuan, an increase of 9.3% year-on-year, accounting for 9.3% of the total amount; White tea reached 10.75 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%, accounting for 3.2% of the total; Huangcha reached 3.04 billion yuan, accounting for 0.9% of the total domestic sales.

（3） Overall stable average domestic sales price

Affected by the adjustment of the average price of green tea, the average domestic sales price of tea in China will experience a correction in 2023. In 2023, the average domestic sales price of green tea will be 153.4 yuan/kg, a year-on-year decrease of 4.7%; Black tea costs 148.1 yuan/kg, with a slight increase of 0.1%; Black tea costs 94.9 yuan/kg, with a year-on-year increase of 7.6%; Oolong tea costs 121.3 yuan/kg, an increase of 5.9%; White tea costs 130.2 yuan/kg, an increase of 5.3%; Yellow tea costs 157.5 yuan/kg, an increase of 24.4%.

（4） Fine adjustment of imported tea quantity

In 2023, China imported 39000 tons of tea, a year-on-year decrease of 5.48%; The import value was 146 million US dollars, a decrease of 0.27% year-on-year; The average price is 3.75 US dollars per kilogram, a year-on-year increase of 6.09%.

1. Statistics by tea category

In 2023, the quantity of imported black tea and black tea in China will both increase; The amount of imported black tea and oolong tea has slightly increased; The average price of imported green tea, oolong tea, and pu erh tea has increased. In the customs statistics list, there is no comparison value for other flower tea and white tea as they are entering for the first time.

2. Statistics by source

Sri Lanka continued to rank first with 12100 tons, followed by India (6159 tons), Burundi (3278 tons), Myanmar (3110 tons), Malawi (2410 tons), Indonesia (2407 tons), Vietnam (2298 tons), Kenya (1791 tons), Uganda (1135 tons) and Rwanda (1013 tons).

（5） The operation of the consumer market

1. Consumer demand is lower than expected, and key tea enterprises have innovative potential

In 2023, influenced by the overall consumption environment and the production and sales situation of famous spring tea, the domestic sales of original leaf tea are not satisfactory, and the market has entered a stage of stock competition, putting significant pressure on most tea companies. Faced with new situations and demands, industry backbone enterprises actively embrace changes and approach Generation Z buyers in areas such as product promotion and consumer scenarios, bringing new thinking and directions to the development of the industry. Appearance, mix and match, stress relief, convenience, and socialization have become the focus of various tea companies' research and development of new products; Brand tea companies improve store services to provide consumers with a better experience. China-Chic, intangible cultural heritage and cross-border co branding have become new consumption hotspots.

2. Offline channels are gradually recovering, and the growth of the e-commerce sector is slowing down.

In 2023, traditional offline sales channels will gradually be restored. Among them, the sales performance of brand specialty stores has rebounded the fastest, with an average increase of 20-40% compared to 2019; The performance recovery of tea specialty markets, supermarkets, and tea houses in cities has been relatively slow, only recovering to 60-70% of 2019 levels. At the same time, due to the fluctuation and adjustment of the live streaming e-commerce sector, the growth rate of tea e-commerce has slowed down. According to the China Tea Association's estimation, the total online trading volume of Chinese tea has exceeded 35 billion yuan in 2023, but the growth rate has been adjusted back to 6%.

3. Freshly made tea drinks shift gears to improve quality, and new tea houses quietly emerge

In 2023, the new tea beverage industry will exhibit four major characteristics:

One is the return of product raw materials to tea. Due to consumers' increasing attention to high-quality tea beverage products such as real tea, real milk, and real fruit, tea has once again become one of the protagonists of new tea beverages, and more traditional premium teas are being applied to innovative products of new tea beverages.

The second is to expand overseas with multiple brands. 2023 is the year of the explosion of new tea drinks going global. The top brands in the new tea beverage market, such as Honey Snow Ice City, HEYTEA, and Bawang Tea Lady, have collectively gone global.

Thirdly, capital has further cooled down. With the gradual loss of category dividends and the increasing stability of brand echelons, investment and financing events in the new tea beverage industry are gradually decreasing. In the context of the domestic financing downturn, applying for IPOs overseas has become an industry trend.

The fourth is the rise of new Chinese style tea houses. The combination of drinking tea in groups and healing and health preservation has made the new Chinese tea house a new social way for young people. In 2023, the new Chinese tea house track not only gathers brands such as Yinxi Tea House, Boiling Leaves, Tea'stone, CGV T SPAC Tea Room · Tea House, and Kaiji Tea House, but also attracts Tea Yan Yue Se, Nayuki Tea, and Heytea to successively open new Chinese tea houses.

3、 Export situation

According to Chinese customs statistics, in 2023, the total export volume of Chinese tea will be 367500 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 2.06%; The export value was 1.739 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 16.49%; The average price is 4.73 US dollars per kilogram, a year-on-year decrease of 14.74%.

（1） Export tea statistics

In terms of export volume, green tea remains the absolute dominant category of Chinese tea exports, accounting for 84.18%; In the tea category, oolong tea and black tea have increased, while others have decreased to varying degrees. Black tea has the largest decrease, reaching 12.62%. In terms of export value, all categories have decreased, with Pu'er tea experiencing the largest decline of 56.47%. In terms of export average price, white tea has the highest unit price at $25.24/kg; The average price of traditional tea has all been lowered, with black tea experiencing the largest decrease of 51.48%.

（2） Export Province Statistics

In 2023, there are six provinces in China with a total tea export volume exceeding 10000 tons, including Zhejiang Province with 150300 tons, a decrease of 2.3%, accounting for 40.9%; Anhui Province has 67300 tons, an increase of 8.4%, accounting for 18.3%; Hunan Province has 42200 tons, a decrease of 11.5%, accounting for 11.5% of the total; Fujian Province has 28900 tons, a decrease of 9.3%, accounting for 7.9%; 24200 tons in Hubei Province, a decrease of 1.4%, accounting for 6.6%; Jiangxi Province has 13100 tons, a decrease of 6.6%, accounting for 3.6%.

There are 5 provinces in China with export volumes exceeding 100 million US dollars. Among them, Zhejiang Province has a total of 464 million US dollars, a decrease of 3.95%, accounting for 26.7%; Fujian Province received 306 million US dollars, a decrease of 42.49%, accounting for 17.6%; Anhui Province received 250 million US dollars, an increase of 2.08%, accounting for 14.4%; Hubei Province received 195 million US dollars, a decrease of 2.12%, accounting for 11.2%; Hunan Province received 116 million US dollars, a decrease of 16.99%, accounting for 6.7%.

Among the top ten provinces in terms of average price, Guizhou and Fujian provinces rank in the top two; The average export price of tea in other provinces is below 10 US dollars per kilogram.

（3） Target country statistics

In 2023, Chinese tea will be sold to 130 countries and regions. There are a total of 10 destinations with export volumes exceeding 10000 tons, and Morocco continues to rank first. There are a total of 4 destinations with export volumes exceeding 100 million US dollars, with Hong Kong, China ranking first.

（4） Market situation

In 2023, the global tea production and sales pattern will be basically stable, but due to the global economy and the overall situation of tea production exceeding sales, the prosperity of the international tea market has not yet improved. After reaching a historic high for two consecutive years, the export volume of Chinese tea has experienced a moderate contraction and correction; But the average export price has dropped by more than 10% for two consecutive years, dragging down the total export volume by about 10%. Overall, the main reasons for the poor export situation are: firstly, weak demand in the international market; The second is the increase in trade costs, increased risks, and further narrowing of profit margins.

4、 Related suggestions

（1） Give full play to policy guidance and continuously promote supply side reform

The production area government should strictly control the addition of new tea gardens, promote the improvement of tea garden quality and efficiency, and enhance stable production capacity; Promote large-scale "trade in" of tea machinery; Introduce special support policies for the development of tea tourism, encourage the development of socialized services throughout the entire industry chain, standardize tea marketing activities, and encourage tea enterprises to increase their efforts in technological innovation and transformation. To adapt to local conditions, explore the development model of the tea industry, do a good job in top-level design, and persist in long-term efforts; Research and formulate local regulations, rules and other measures to guide the green development of the tea industry; To promote the standardized operation of the tea industry; Explore new quality productivity and explore future development paths.

（2） Take multiple measures to promote consumption and continuously revive the domestic market

The government should introduce substantive policies to promote the creation of new consumption scenarios for the integration of business travel, culture, and sports; Support the popularization and dissemination of tea knowledge and culture, standardize the online and offline construction of tea culture dissemination centers, and support the organization of influential commercial and international tea events; Support the development of tea related service formats; Encourage the orderly development of tea e-commerce; Supporting tea enterprises to expand new channels, models, and formats of the digital economy; Support innovative operational models, expand digital services, and extend services.

（3） Cultural guidance, precise support, and continuous promotion of overseas expansion

The government should provide new supporting policies and measures to support the promotion and branding of Chinese tea culture and lifestyle; Utilize tax guidance and accumulation capabilities to accelerate the cultivation of international brands; Strengthen communication, coordination, and mutually beneficial cooperation with international organizations to smooth international trade relations; Encourage brand tea enterprises and new tea beverage companies to open characteristic experience stores and chain stores overseas; Support enterprises to explore and build overseas tea trading centers; Give full play to the special status and role of industry organizations, and accurately connect with the international market; Create a unified image for Chinese tea brands, enhance integrity, visibility, and reputation.

（4） Firmly maintain confidence, change mindset, strengthen foundation, and move forward with the trend

The Chinese tea industry has entered a critical period of transformation from large to strong and overcoming obstacles. Enterprises should have firm confidence in development, persist in development determination, maintain a clear mind, give full play to their strengths, and adapt to changes in the times. We should seize the development opportunities brought by changes, focus more on consumption increment, and exert efforts on consumer demand and scenarios. We should not only enhance our professional and business capabilities, as well as the ability to integrate resources from all parties, but also pay more attention to and strengthen mutual empowerment with our partners.