New-style tea beverage industry prospers in Zunyi, SW China's Guizhou

Aerial photo shows a tea-themed scenic area in Meitan county, Zunyi city, southwest China's Guizhou Province. [People's Daily Online/Yang Qian]

"In the past, our summer and autumn tea leaves, despite their high quality, fetched low prices. Most of them went to waste after traders took their share. Now they have become valuable," said Wu Yanbing, a tea farmer in Zunyi city, southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Wu, hailing from Hetaoba village in Meitan county of the city, added that his tea garden covering an area of 2 mu (0.133 hectares) brings in over 20,000 yuan ($2,798.49) annually.

The secret behind this transformation in Zunyi lies in its growing new-style tea beverage industry.

Photo shows tea buds in Meitan county, Zunyi city, southwest China's Guizhou Province. [People's Daily Online/Yang Qian]

As a production area of premium green tea and a key black tea-growing area in China, Zunyi boasts 2 million mu of tea gardens, yielding an annual output of 159,800 tonnes of tea leaves.

A game-changing partnership between Zhuhai city in south China's Guangdong Province and Zunyi emerged in 2021, when China launched a new round of collaboration between eastern and western regions. By leveraging the popularity of new-style tea beverages, both cities made innovations in their industrial cooperation to capture this lucrative market.

That same year saw the establishment of Guizhou Houtang Tea Supply Biotechnology Co., Ltd., the first new-style tea beverage manufacturer in Meitan county. Relying on local premium tea resources, the company has partnered with over 100 bubble tea brands and more than 50,000 brick-and-mortar stores nationwide.

Photo shows tea production equipment in Zunyi city, southwest China's Guizhou Province. [People's Daily Online/Wang Xiufang]

Wei Chuwei, the company's general manager, said the usage of Zunyi's tea leaves in their products has jumped from less than 10 percent initially to 35 percent this year.

Guizhou Chunshuitang Tea Co., Ltd., a company whose portfolio includes the production, processing and R&D of tea leaves, as well as the production and sales of new-style tea drinks, has developed dozens of new-style tea drinks. In 2022, the company established roots in Meitan county, infusing local tea essence into their popular tea drinks nationwide.

Photo shows raw materials for new-style tea beverages in Zunyi city, southwest China's Guizhou Province. [People's Daily Online/Wang Xiufang]

Since starting production in September 2023, the company has purchased over 50 million yuan worth of local summer and autumn tea leaves, said Wang Zihao, the company's general manager, adding that the company is expected to sell over 10,000 tonnes of new-style tea beverage products nationwide this year.

In May 2024, Zhuhai and Zunyi jointly launched a project to build a national new-style tea beverage supply chain center to help the latter generate a comprehensive output value of new-style tea drinks of more than 5 billion yuan.

Photo shows cups of new-style tea drinks. [People's Daily Online/Yang Qian]