China to cooperate with Pakistan in black tea production to reduce poverty

BEIJING, April 14 (APP):Guizhou Tea Association in China wants to cooperate with Pakistan in black tea production and can make breakthroughs in technology and increase productivity, Xu Jiamin, secretary general of association said on Wednesday.

“Pakistan is the third largest tea importer in the world. They consume a lot of imported tea every year. As long as the quantity is large, the cost can be lowered. We can make breakthroughs in technology and increase productivity,” he said in an interview with CEN.

“Tea leaves are small, but it plays a big role in poverty alleviation in Guizhou. The development of the tea industry is an effective way to promote rural employment and boost farmers’ income.” According to Xu Jiamin, there are 3.4 million people in Guizhou involved in tea planting. The annual income from tea per person has reached more than RMB 12,000.

Xu Jiamin informed that mechanical tea picking is encouraged in the production of tea for export, and the output has been increased substantially. Also, the association is promoting the intelligent management of tea gardens, using the Internet and modern technology to realize the integration of automatic water and fertilizer.

“We are cooperating with Anhui Agricultural University, Guizhou University, Guizhou Tea Research Institute and the research teams of the companies,” he said.

“Enterprise-driven model is adopted in most of our tea gardens, where the local farmers become employees of the companies. There are also tea farmers who have their own contracted lands, operating the tea plantation on their own,” Xu Jiamin added.

Poverty alleviation is an important parts of Pakistan government’s priorities. Xu Jiamin thinks that tea industry can be a promising industry for China and Pakistan to cooperate and China can share its’ experience.

“Broken black tea is the most popular tea product among the Pakistani people. We have decades of years of experience in making broken black tea. We have advanced mechanical equipment and the quality of our tea is excellent.”

Before the COVID-19 epidemic, some tea companies in Guizhou have been to Pakistan to explore the cooperation potential in the deep processing of broken black tea.

Xu Jiamin expects further cooperation with Pakistani companies. “We want more information and communication with Pakistan. We already have experience in setting tea industry in Morocco. I think the cooperation mode can be decided by the demand of both sides,” he said.