A cup of freshly brewed West Lake Longjing Tea. [Photo/CFP]

The Standing Committee of the Hangzhou Municipal People's Congress held a news conference on Jan 20 to announce the regulations on the protection and management of West Lake Longjing Tea which would take effect on March 1.

The regulations state that only tea that comes with a specialized West Lake Longjing Tea label, which includes information such as the origin of fresh tea leaves, tea varieties, and the picking and processing of the tea, will be recognized as quality goods.

The regulations also stipulate that only tea leaves planted in specific areas are recognized as authentic. These areas start from Hupao Mountain Villa and the Maojiabu scenic spot in the east to Yangfu Temple, Longmenkan village and Hejia village in the west, as well as from Shejing village and Fushan village in the south to Laodongyue Temple and the Jinyujing residential community in the north.

Tea producers can access this special label via the West Lake Longjing Tea digital management system at a designated period every year. The label should be placed in a prominent position on the packaging as well as on promotional pages. Private exchanges of the label is not allowed. Individuals and companies that do so face fines of up to 10,000 yuan ($1,572) and 50,000 yuan respectively.

No individual or company is allowed to forge or sell forged labels. Those who earn an illegal income of more than 50,000 yuan by doing so will be fined up to five times the amount. The fine for illegal incomes amounting to less than 50,000 yuan will not exceed 200,000 yuan.

Farmers pick West Lake Longjing Tea at a tea plantation in Xihu district, Hangzhou. [Photo/CFP]