Report on China's Import and Export of Tea, 2008

China exported 297,000 tons or US$680m of tea (hereafter mentioned as "tea", whether flavored or not, excluding Mate Tea) in 2008, up by 2.5% in weight and by 13% in value year-on-year; also exported 6.3 tons or US$49,000 of Mate Tea, down sharply by 94.1% in weight and by 91.2% in value year-on-year.

China imported 5,374 tons or US$17.76m of tea (hereafter mentioned as "tea", whether flavored or not, excluding Mate Tea) in 2008, up by 1.3% in weight and 40.5% in value year-on-year; also imported 24 tons or US$790,000 of Mate Tea, up by 4.3% in weight and down by 51.1% in value year-on-year.

The tea exported by China in 2008 was mainly green tea, while the tea imported mainly black tea. The tea that accounted for the largest percentage of that exported by China in weight was "Green tea, in immediate packing of a content exceeding 3Kg", whose total export was 114,000 tons or US$180m in 2008, down by 1.6% in weight and up by 9.65% in value year-on-year. The second largest was "Green tea, in immediate packing of a content not exceeding 3Kg", whose total export was 109,000 tons or US$310m in 2008, up by 1.3% in weight and 16.2% in value year-on-year. The here-above-mentioned two kinds of tea together accounted for three fourths of the tea exported by China in 2008.

The tea that accounted for the largest percentage of that imported by China in weight was "Black tea and other partly fermented tea, in immediate packing of a content exceeding 3Kg", whose total import was 3,498 tons or US$8.5m in 2008, up by 11.6% in weight and 39.3% in value year-on-year, accounting for 65% of the tea imported by China in the year.