A visitor checks out the Lishui exhibition stand at the 4th China International Tea Expo in Hangzhou. [Photo/WeChat account: wxlishui]

The 4th China International Tea Expo concluded on May 25 at the Hangzhou International Expo Center – in Hangzhou city, capital of East China's Zhejiang province – with record highs in the value of both completed transactions and future orders.

Organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as well as Zhejiang's government, the expo attracted nearly 150,000 visits.

Zhejiang's Lishui city achieved bumper results during the expo with 1.85 tons of its tea sold, worth  2.2 million yuan ($343,825). Future orders generated at the expo amounted to another 84.6 million yuan.

With an exhibition area of 810 square meters, 43 tea producers from Lishui brought their premium products to the expo and of these, five tea varieties were especially recommended by the expo organizers. 

The tea industry is one of the most competitive sectors in Zhejiang's economy. In 2020, the province had 205,000 hectares of tea under cultivation, which produced 191,000 tons of tea.

Zhejiang is the largest exporter of tea among China's provinces. It has exported its tea to 91 countries and regions, including Morocco, Senegal, Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Russia and Japan.

Last year, Zhejiang exported 146,200 tons of tea, accounting for 41.9 percent of the nation's total tea exports in 2020.