Tea production in China 2000-2023
In 2023, China's tea production amounted to 3.54 million metric tons, a record high volume. The majority of the tea produced was green tea.
Agricultural production overview
Although agriculture is an important source of income for many Chinese people, its contribution to the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP) is considerably less than that of the services and the industry sector. However, the contribution of the agricultural sector in China is remarkably high when compared to those of other developed countries. In the United States, for example, which is the world’s leading agricultural supplier, the agricultural sector contributed less than one percent to the country’s total GDP in 2023. In 2022, China’s agricultural sector contributed over seven percent to the GDP and generated a gross production value of over 8.4 trillion yuan, employing around a quarter of its total population.
The majority of China's cultivated land is used for food production. Rice production plays an essential role in China’s agriculture as well as in people's everyday life, making China the leading rice producer worldwide. Besides rice, wheat, corn, oleiferous plants, tea, and tobacco production are also important parts of agriculture in the country.
Tea cultivation
China has a centuries-old tradition of tea production and consumption. The total area of tea plantations, located mostly around the Yangtze river and other southern regions, reached around 3.39 million hectares by the end of 2022. Green tea, which does not undergo a process of fermentation, is by far the most produced and consumed variety of Chinese teas. The industry produced around 1.85 million metric tons of green tea in 2022. China is not only the world’s largest tea producer, but also the leading exporter, supplying the world with over 350 thousand metric tons of tea annually.