According to China Tea Marketing Association statistics, China's tea industry this year continues to show growth in overall production with significant quality improvements. Tea output is expected to reach approximately 1.95 million tons, an 8% increase compared to the same period last year, and tea quality is steadily improving. However, problems within the industry cannot be overlooked during this stable development phase.

In the forecast report, China Tea Marketing Association pointed out two most significant trends in China's tea industry in 2013: First, bulk tea volumes and prices increased while premium specialty teas saw significant price drops; Second, tea overcapacity is prominent, making tea sales a development bottleneck.

Increased Volume and Prices for Bulk Tea, Significant Drops for Premium Specialty Teas

According to China Tea Marketing Association predictions, China's tea production will maintain growth momentum. Tea planting areas continue to expand significantly this year, with Guizhou province alone reaching 6 million mu of tea plantations, surpassing Yunnan province for the first time to rank first nationally. Since no extreme weather occurred early in the year, and various tea-producing regions continuously improved tea garden management and fresh leaf processing techniques, tea quality has been guaranteed, making 2013 spring tea quality generally better than previous years.

However, influenced by the "Eight Regulations" and international economic conditions, except for Yunnan Pu'er tea and Fuding white tea which maintained price increases, other categories of bulk teas showed stable growth while premium specialty teas saw significant drops between 10-50%, with slight variations among different tea types. According to China Tea Marketing Association surveys in major tea-producing regions, Zhejiang markets started slowly but transactions became温和 later, with early tea transaction prices明显 lower than last year. Premium specialty green teas in Anhui, such as Liuan Guapian, Taiping Houkui, and Huangshan Maofeng, saw price drops around 15%, while mid-to-low grade bulk spring tea prices remained equal to last year.

Prominent Tea Overcapacity, Sales Difficulties Become Development Bottleneck

The industry generally exhibits盲目 optimism. Major tea-producing provinces, especially in central and western regions, continue to encourage tea planting and expand plantation areas in industrial policies. If industrial policies aren't adjusted timely to restrict plantation areas and shift focus to improving economic benefits per unit area and consumer market cultivation, situations where cheap tea harms farmers might occur, subsequently affecting tea prices. Tea price fluctuations will directly impact farmer enthusiasm. China Tea Marketing Association surveys in major sales regions like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou show that since spring this year, the entire tea market situation isn't optimistic, presenting a "sluggish" trend with明显 declines in high-end gift tea sales. Currently, although premium tea prices have dropped, sales volumes remain relatively normal. Meanwhile, with rising CPI index, continuous increases in agricultural production material costs, and continuously lower increases in raw tea prices, some regions are seeing farmers abandon tea harvesting, somewhat dampening farmer enthusiasm for tea planting. Some national industry standards also restrict batch and mass production of Chinese tea.

Solutions Proposed by China Tea Marketing Association

Addressing problems in China's tea industry, China Tea Marketing Association proposes six recommendations:

1. Relevant national departments, especially agricultural authorities, should adapt to local conditions based on production reality, develop industry development plans, and formulate policies to appropriately control tea planting areas. Encourage improving tea yield and economic benefits per unit area through cultivation and management techniques.

2. Agricultural authorities should also develop industry development plans, accelerate rural urbanization and agricultural structural adjustment, formulate policies to appropriately control tea planting areas. Encourage improving tea yield and economic benefits per unit area through cultivation and management techniques.

3. In China, agriculture remains a vulnerable industry. Recommend government departments increase support for agricultural production materials, tilt policies accordingly, and establish agricultural material price monitoring systems to prevent excessive price increases and curb hoarding by unscrupulous merchants artificially driving up prices.

4. Both government and industry associations should actively organize promotional activities to help farmers expand tea product distribution channels, establish transparent market price systems, promptly provide market feedback to guide production of marketable tea products, and rapidly open tea sales markets through promotions highlighting tea's health benefits.

5. Excessive tea packaging is currently very serious. Recommend relevant national departments establish strict laws regulating excessive product packaging, guiding tea packaging toward environmentally friendly "simple packaging, recyclable use" development. Meanwhile, relevant government functional departments should strengthen market supervision of excessive tea packaging, legally penalizing excessive packaging practices.

6. Sky-high tea speculation has basically negative impacts, not gaining social recognition while seriously damaging industry reputation and affecting tea consumption growth. Establish a complete tea price information system to promptly release price changes, use mainstream media like 1510tea for positive guidance to realize平民化tea movement and establish new industry practices.