In recent days, the Zhaojia Tea Garden in Sikou Village, Sikou Town, Wuyuan County is undergoing its third mechanical harvest of fresh tea leaves. “This year, the garden has already sold 1.09 million pounds of fresh tea leaves, with production exceeding that of previous years by 200,000 pounds,” said Yao Huayuan, head of the Zhaojia Tea Garden.

Wuyuan County has 206,000 acres of tea gardens, but only 80,000 acres are designated for export. With increasing export volumes, the existing registered bases cannot meet the demand for raw materials. To further expand tea exports and assist rural revitalization, Wuyuan County, in collaboration with customs authorities, leveraged its ecological and industrial advantages to integrate the county's unregistered 120,600-acre tea gardens into a single “Large Base” for export registration. In December last year, following approval from the General Administration of Customs, Wuyuan became the first in the country to have its entire 206,000-acre tea garden base registered with customs. It is estimated that this will increase the exportable volume of tea from Wuyuan by approximately 12,600 tons.

Chen Lizhen, deputy director of the Wuyuan County Tea Industry Development Center, said, “Now, companies wishing to export tea grown in the ‘Large Base' do not need to apply separately for an export license; they simply need to obtain a shipping certificate from the Wuyuan Tea Association, simplifying the export process and reducing costs for businesses.”

A new large signboard erected at the Zhaojia Tea Garden lists detailed information such as the name of the base, traceability number, supervisory body, and other details. Following the certification of the “Large Base,” all 639 bases in the county, including the Zhaojia Tea Garden, were gradually incorporated into the “Large Base” management system. The county's tea association, acting as the registering entity for the “Large Base,” is responsible for ensuring that bases and tea enterprises adhere strictly to self-discipline and operate with integrity.

Chen Lizhen said, “The construction of the ‘Large Base' will gradually improve the three-level quality management system for tea gardens at the county, town (township), and village levels. When completed, the entire process from planting plots to export clearance information will be fully traceable.”