中国绿茶China Green Tea

By Cat Coughran  作者：Cat Coughran  译者：于英杰

China is a global green tea powerhouse, exporting more of the green leaf than any other country in the world. It is also a vast country with many tea growing areas producing a wide variety of teas. New areas of tea production are rising and increasing their yields while more established, and familiar tea provinces experience flatter growth or declines. These fluctuations have an impact on China’s export of green teas. Changes in points of origin within China for green teas affect the price of green teas, and potentially alters expectations regarding classic specialty tea characteristics and can give rise to new avenues for premium teas.

中国是全球绿茶大国，其绿茶出口量超过世界上其它任何国家。中国有广袤的茶区，生产多种茶类。新开垦的茶园不断增加，单产提高，但部分茶叶省份的茶园面积也有小幅增长和下降。这些波动对中国的绿茶出口会产生影响。中国绿茶产区的茶园面积变化会影响绿茶的价格，也可能改变消费者对特种茶的需求，为高档茶带来新的商机。

GREEN TEA IMPORT & EXPORT

绿茶进出口情况

China is the largest source of green tea in the US, accounting for 43 – 51 percent of annual green tea imports between 2015 and 2019. Noticeable gains in packaged green tea and organic green tea imports from China coincide with consumer data showing a growing preference for green teas over black teas.

美国的大部分绿茶是从中国进口，在2015年至2019年期间，每年从中国进口的绿茶占美国绿茶进口总量的43％至51％。从中国进口的包装绿茶和有机绿茶大幅增长，这也吻合美国一项调查结果，相比红茶，美国消费者更喜欢绿茶。

Within the context of China’s total exports, the country retained 87% of its total tea production in 2019.

●     366,600 metric tons (13%) were exported

●     83% of that export volume was green tea

2019年，中国茶叶生产总量的87%用于内销，13%用于出口，出口总量36.66万吨，其中83%是绿茶。

China’s green tea goes across the globe. A whopping 20%, or about 75 thousand metric tons, of China’s tea exports, go to Morocco. Morocco purchases vast quantities of green tea for both domestic consumption and re-export and by far the largest single importing country of Chinese green tea. The popularity of Moroccan mint green tea is the dominant contributing factor. The US takes a much smaller share of export volume, usually around 4% per year. In terms of dollar value, the US ranks number 6 – 8 on the list of China tea buying countries. Canada receives less than 0.5% of China’s tea exports. It is worth noting, however, that these numbers do not necessarily reflect the actual amount of Chinese tea in these countries’ markets. The US and Canada import packaged, blended, and flavored green teas from non-producing countries that can include Chinese green tea.

中国的绿茶遍布全球。中国绿茶出口总量的20％（约7.5万吨）是出口至摩洛哥。摩洛哥购买大量的绿茶用于国内消费和再出口，是迄今为止中国绿茶的最大进口国。薄荷绿茶的普及是促使摩洛哥大量进口绿茶的主要因素。出口到美国的中国绿茶份额要小得多，通常每年约为4％。受美元汇率因素的影响，美国在中国茶叶购买名单中排名第6-8位。出口到加拿大的绿茶占比低于0.5％，然而，值得注意的是，这些数字并不一定反映中国绿茶在这些国家市场上的实际数量。美国和加拿大从非茶叶生产国进口包装茶、调配茶和调味茶，这些茶中也包括中国绿茶。

CHINA GREEN TEA PRODUCTION

中国绿茶生产

The last five years have shown China continues to increase its production of all teas, including greens. Green tea production grew 5% from 2017 to 2019 alone. In 2019, China reported producing 2.8 million metric tons of tea, a 19% increase from 2015. Breaking that production down by tea type results in:

●     63.5% green tea

●     13.5% dark tea

●     11.0% black tea

●     9.9% wulong (oolong) tea

●     1.3% white tea

●     0.3% yellow tea

过去五年，中国的茶叶产量持续增长，包括绿茶。仅从2017年到2019年，中国绿茶产量增长5％。2019年，中国茶叶总产量近280万吨，比2015年增长19％。各茶类占比如下：绿茶63.5%，黑茶13.5%，红茶11%，乌龙茶9.9%，白茶1.3%，黄茶0.3%。

China has about 16 provinces that each produce over ten thousand metric tons of tea. Still, the top 3 provinces (Fujian, Yunnan, and Hubei) contribute a combined total of 41% of the nation’s tea. These provinces provide significant portions of green tea but do so on varying scales based on the types of tea those provinces produce. For example, Yunnan Province has ranked number 3 on the list of green tea producing provinces, but only 45.8% of its total annual production is green tea. Zhejiang Province ranks number 4 on the list of green tea provinces, but about 92% of its tea production is green tea.

中国大约有16个省的茶叶产量超过一万吨。尽管如此，排名前三的省份（福建、云南和湖北）所产茶叶合计占全国茶叶生产总量的41％。这些省份生产了大量的绿茶，但根据所产绿茶种类的不同，其规模也有所差异。例如，云南省在绿茶生产省份中排名第三，但绿茶仅占其年产量的45.8％；浙江省在绿茶生产省份中排名第四，但其生产茶叶的92％都是绿茶。

As regions go, the Western Belt of provinces (Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan) are the largest producers of green tea, contributing approximately 40% of China’s total. Guizhou is the single most significant contributor, delivering nearly 15% of all the nation ’s green tea. The Eastern Belt of leading tea provinces (Anhui, Fujian, and Zhejiang) supply about one-quarter of the total green crop, and these provinces are leaders in terms of tea exports.

随着地区的发展，西部省份（贵州、四川、云南）是最大的绿茶生产省份，约占中国绿茶总量的40％。贵州所产的绿茶占全国绿茶总量的15％。东部省份（安徽、福建、浙江）提供了绿茶总产量的1/4，这些省份也是主要的茶叶出口区域。

Yields (measured in kg per hectare) further reveal the gains being made in the Central Belt. China’s national average yield is around 900 kgs per hectare. Compare this to India with about 2,000 kg/hectare and Vietnam with 1,300, and China’s performance does not look quite so rosy. Here are two details that help clarify. First, China’s more northerly position means its plants cannot necessarily produce the volumes found in warmer climates. Secondly, a growing proportion of China’s fields are new. The Central Belt provinces saw a 31% gain in the total tea field area from 2010 – 2019. Guizhou in the Western Belt saw a 179% gain in tea fields over the previous ten years.

中国茶园平均单产约为900公斤/公顷。与此相比，印度茶园单产约为2000公斤/公顷，越南是1300公斤/公顷，中国的表现似乎并不那么乐观，主要有以下两个原因。首先，中国所处位置偏北，这意味着在寒冷季节，茶叶产量会减少；其次，中国的茶园面积越来越大。从2010年至2019年，中部省份（湖北、湖南、陕西）的茶园总面积增加了31％，西部地区的贵州省在过去十年中茶园面积增加了179％。

China will continue to lead the world in green tea, but the origin points within China will continue to shift to new areas. Shifts in domestic and global consumer preferences will also help determine the characteristics of teas produced, including quality level and flavor profile.

中国将继续在绿茶领域保持世界领先地位，但中国的茶业发展新领域会持续变化。国内和全球消费者的饮茶偏好将帮助茶叶生产商决定茶叶的特征，包括品质质量和风味特征。

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