Songyang county – administered by Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province – recently signed a framework agreement with the Research Center for Rural Economy of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to jointly tackle the levels of carbon in the air.

The two sides agreed to build the country's first research center for carbon sequestration at tea plantations in Songyang. Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide – the most commonly produced greenhouse gas – in carbon storage pools.

Driven by China's two carbon goals of achieving peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060, how to reduce carbon emissions from their production activities has become an important task for tea plantations throughout the country.

According to officials, relying on its rich local tea resources, Songyang will focus on studying the carbon footprint and evaluating methods of the tea plantation system. It will also gauge the potential of measures for carbon sequestration and emissions reductions at the plantations.

The framework agreement is expected to promote the establishment of working mechanisms for carbon sequestration at tea plantations – and play a path-finding role in national agricultural carbon reductions and carbon sequestration.