Nanjian County is a major tea-producing county in Dali Prefecture, a high-quality, pollution-free tea base county in Yunnan Province, and a key regional planning base county for tea production nationwide. It has a tea garden area of over 120,000 mu (approximately 8,000 hectares), with an annual tea industry value exceeding 2.1 billion RMB. In recent years, Nanjian County has focused on creating a provincial demonstration county for its “one county, one industry” tea industry goal. Emphasizing the principle of “use-oriented” and “both attracting and cultivating” talent, it has further deepened reforms in the construction of industrial workforce, strengthened the development of high-skilled personnel in the new era, and cultivated more highly skilled talents. It aims to motivate a large number of workers to pursue a path of skill-based talent development and serve the country through their skills.

Representing Dali Prefecture in the Provincial General Tea Art Competition

To nurture talent through tea, the “Tea Harmony Youth Seedling” plan is implemented. First, we actively explore cooperation between schools and enterprises, integrating education and industry. We cooperate with institutions such as the West Yunnan Applied Science and Technology University and Dali Technical College. Through targeted recruitment, commissioned training, or long-term training, we provide order-based and specialized training for Nanjian's tea industry skilled personnel. So far, we have conducted two batches of apprentice training programs involving 77 people. Second, led by departments such as the County Agricultural and Rural Affairs Bureau, Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, and Federation of Trade Unions, we fully integrate various training resources and funds to conduct precise professional skills training in Tea processing. Through the cooperation of “old teaching new” and “strong helping weak,” we encourage mutual exchange and sharing among peers to improve the professional level of tea industry workers. We also organize tea processing skill competitions, selecting and naming a group of county-level tea-making experts. To date, eight competitions have been organized, involving more than 400 participants.

Expert Zhou Hongjie (fifth from left)

Expert Liu Benying (fourth from left)

Expert Liu Benying (third from left) providing on-site guidance for Nanjian white tea

To promote tea through talent, the “Famous Craftsmen Intelligence Attraction” plan is implemented. First, we strengthen cooperation with tea expert teams and enterprises within and outside the province. New expert research stations have been established: “Li Bo Expert Grassroots Research Station of Wuliangshan North 25° Tea Co., Ltd. in Nanjian County,” “Liu Benying Expert Grassroots Research Station of Yunnan Nanjian Tea Factory,” and “Li Yali Expert Station of Nanjian County Tea Station.” These stations conduct scientific research and promote the transformation of research results, strengthening mentorship-based talent cultivation to support the high-quality development of the tea industry. Second, we increase technological support and encourage researchers to contribute their scientific achievements to tea companies. The county government signed a cooperation agreement with the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences Tea Research Institute and established the “Wuliangshan White Tea Research Center,” hiring 13 provincial and prefectural tea experts. They focus on key areas such as standard setting for Nanjian Wuliangshan white tea and new product development. The county tea station participates in related experimental demonstrations of national and provincial tea industry systems.

To develop skills for tea, the “Craftsmanship Cultivation” plan is implemented. First, we invest 80 million RMB from the central fiscal connection fund into the “one county, one industry” construction project in Nanjian County. We have cumulatively built 19 standardized primary processing plants, 42 micro-tea primary processing plants, and renovated and upgraded 12 standardized primary processing plants, conducting tea processing talent cultivation to comprehensively enhance primary processing capabilities. Second, taking advantage of opportunities provided by cooperation with Tsinghua University and Shanghai, we make full use of training resources and adopt a training method of “bringing in and sending out” to strengthen the training of tea enterprise managers, managers of professional cooperatives, and e-commerce sales personnel. Our goal is to train no fewer than 450 people of various types over three years. Third, focusing on the integration of tea Tourism and Tea culture, we concentrate on the evaluation of tea tasters, tea makers, and tea artists, strengthening the cultivation of industrial skilled personnel. To date, we have conducted 59 training sessions involving 4,388 people, and we plan to train no fewer than 100 tea industry workers this year.

To market tea through quality, the “Talent and Quality Tea” plan is implemented. We actively engage in the creation of tea brands. In 2025, Nanjian County was named the “Pu'er Cake Tea Hometown” by the China Tea Circulation Association, recognized as a national key tea-producing region, and awarded the title of “County Leading High-Quality Development in the Tea Industry in 2025.” The county has one well-known Chinese trademark, two geographical indication trademarks, five famous trademarks in Yunnan Province, two Yunnan brands, and three Yunnan brand agricultural products. There are three regional public brands: “Phoenix Pu'er Cake Tea,” “Nanjian Green Tea,” and “Nanjian Wuliangshan Black Tea.” “Nanjian Green Tea” has been included in the list of Yunnan Green Cloud Products Regional Public Brands. The following brands were selected for the list of Yunnan Green Cloud Products Product Brands: “Tulin” from Yunnan Tulin Tea Co., Ltd., “Gude Phoenix” from Yunnan Nanjian Tea Factory, “Luoboke” from Nanjian Luoboke Tea Factory, and “Xinfenghuang” from Nanjian Phoenix Pu'er Cake Tea Co., Ltd.

There are 54 villages involved in the tea industry across the county, accounting for 67% of all villages in Nanjian. There are 26,000 tea-involved households with more than 100,000 people, approximately 50% of the total number of households and population in the county. Driven by talent and technology, Nanjian County continues to increase investment and development efforts in