A tea garden in Anji county, Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/hz66.com]

Four apps developed by Huzhou were recently listed as excellent apps in Zhejiang, which is presently promoting digital reform in its agriculture and rural areas.

Among them is the app developed for Anji white tea, a variety of green tea primarily produced from Huzhou's Anji county.

The tea has been ranked among the top 10 regional public tea brands in China for over 10 years and was even praised by the royal family of the Kingdom of Morocco.

In August 2020, the tea was listed among the first batch of geographical indication (GI) products recognized by the European Union.                                        

The app was launched in late March to ensure the tea's authenticity and to improve its output. It can track data related to the planting, processing, packaging, storage, and sales of the tea.

Real-time data related to soil, air, and humidity can be retrieved by the platform via sensors installed in the garden.

The app's launch has increased the output value of white tea industry in Anji to 3.113 billion yuan ($478.92 million) this year, up from 2.759 billion yuan the previous year.

The increased output has generated an additional per capita income of over 8,600 yuan for farmers.

Zhejiang Anji Songming White Tea Co Ltd is among the beneficiaries of the city's digitalization drive.

Xu Yong, who is responsible for digital reform at Zhejiang Anji Songming White Tea Co Ltd, predicts that the company will produce 80 metric tons of dried white tea worth about 150 million yuan in revenue this year.