Hordes of tea buyers from around the country stream into the Southern Zhejiang Tea Market to do business. [Photo/Songyang county publicity department]

As the weather warms up and with spring tea coming onto the market, the biggest green tea trading market in China, the Southern Zhejiang Tea Market – located in Songyang county, Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province – opened its doors again on March 2 after a break in business.

As a key tea-producing county in China, Songyang has been vigorously developing its tea industry in recent years, in a bid to create the golden business card of becoming a "China Organic Tea Village".

In 2022, the tea plantation area in Songyang covered 10,213 hectares, generating total output worth 13.5 billion yuan ($1.96 billion). The trading volume of the Southern Zhejiang Tea Market reached 81,700 metric tons, worth 6.54 billion yuan, ranking it first in trading volume and value among similar markets in China.

The Southern Zhejiang Tea Market has 306 business shops and tens of thousands of trading stalls. It is connected with more than 6,667 hectares of tea plantations in major tea-producing areas in Zhejiang, Fujian, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui and Hunan provinces, benefiting over 1.5 million tea farmers.

The opening of the market also signified the start of the spring tea trading season and in 2023, Songyang will launch new measures to promote the development of its tea industry.

According to the county's agriculture and rural affairs department, from March 1 to May 31, Songyang will launch the "Year of the Rabbit" Spring Tea Trading Gift Package.

The package includes shopping coupons and scenic area tickets, purchasing employer liability insurance for tea-picking workers and rolling out fast-track financial channels.