Hangzhou Wanhu Tea Co Ltd executives pay a visit to a tea farm in Georgia. [Photo provided to China Daily]

In April last year, Wanhu Tea brought equipment and workers for the first time to Georgia. That was a throwback to a similar visit to Georgia by a Chinese man over 120 years ago.

In 1893, Liu Junzhou set forth from Ningbo of East China's Zhejiang province and brought tea seeds and workers to Georgia. He lived in the country for 21 years, during which he opened tea plantations and a tea school, and trained tea planters. Liu laid the foundation for Georgia's modern tea producers.

"When I first came here, the wild grass was taller than tea shrubs, but I could recognize that the tea here is of ancient Chinese strain," Zhang said.

In April this year, Zhang and his team of tea masters went to Georgia again to introduce advanced tea-making techniques.

On May 13, the Ministry of Commerce announced that China and Georgia have signed an FTA, which will see China exempt import duties on almost 94 percent of Georgian goods, and Georgia will reciprocate by doing away with import duties on 96.5 percent of Chinese products.

"We want to make a difference and achieve better results than our ancestors under the supportive policy of the Belt and Road Initiative. Wanhu Tea's best tea masters will teach local people in Georgia how to make high-quality tea."

Born in Shanxi province, Zhang knows that local tea merchants had developed the famous Sino-Russian Tea Road. The route enabled transport of Chinese tea from East China's Fujian province to Mongolia and Russia during the reigns of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911).

"China is the birthplace of tea, and it boasts excellent tea-making techniques and profound tea cultures. As a Chinese tea maker, I feel obliged to popularize Chinese tea products and cultures across the world," Zhang said.

Zou Shuo contributed to this story.