Zhuyeqing Tea, a major green tea maker in Southwest China's Sichuan province, said the nation's tea consumption market is undergoing significant changes, and it will further strengthen cooperation with e-commerce platforms to meet growing demand from young consumers.

In addition to drinking milk tea and fruit tea, young Chinese consumers have been more interested in going to teahouses or making freshly brewed tea at home, and Zhuyeqing believes that the sales growth potential of original leaf tea is significant in the country.

Facing changes in the tea consumption market, the company has continued to optimize its range of products. It launched its latest green tea for this spring, and introduced a new series of products in smaller tins and more fashionable packaging. Since Monday, its hundreds of stores nationwide had also launched events that allow customers to taste the latest spring tea.

"Chinese consumers have been paying more attention to the cost performance of tea and the functionality of tea as gifts. Tea has increasingly become a day-to-day drink to go with meals and to carry during business trips," said Tang Xianhong, president of Zhuyeqing.

"Besides, tea has become an emotional attachment of many people, indicating consumers' pursuit and celebration of better quality lives," Tang said.

Meanwhile, young people's interest in drinking tea has driven the online consumption volume of tea products, and search volumes for green tea have been climbing on major e-commerce platforms.

Zhuyeqing has signed agreements to further strengthen cooperation with e-commerce platforms JD and Tmall and launch more promotional activities online. The company also started cooperation with major on-demand services platform Meituan, which allows customers to participate in lucky draws online and get the products later at brick-and-mortar stores.

"By leveraging the stickiness of those platforms' customer base, we are expected to accurately reach more potential customers and enable more people to conveniently enjoy the freshness of spring tea," Tang said.

In addition, the Chinese people have been interested in exploring the country's intangible cultural heritage after Spring Festival was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December.

Sanxingdui, an ancient archaeological site in Sichuan, has attracted public attention after new archaeological discoveries were made at the site. At the occasion of the launch of new spring tea this year, Zhuyeqing and Sanxingdui Museum officially cooperated to carry out more innovative interpretations of tea culture.

Currently, green tea accounts for nearly 60 percent of the total output of all kinds of tea in China, followed by black tea and dark tea. Sichuan stands as a major high-quality green tea production base in China, and Mount Emei has a tea planting history of over 4,000 years, according to the China Tea Marketing Association.

"Tea has a huge market size and sustained demand in China, and the country's tea sector has grown comprehensively in multiple dimensions, demonstrating its strong vitality and resilience. And the development of the tea sector significantly contributed to rural vitalization," said Wang Qing, chairman of the association.

Last year, domestic tea sales volume reached nearly 2.5 million metric tons, and total sales value hit 330 billion yuan ($45.24 billion), the association said.

Meanwhile, tea export volume reached 374,000 tons last year, up 1.8 percent year-on-year. Export value was $1.42 billion, down 18.4 percent. Some top exporting destinations include Morocco, Ghana, Uzbekistan, Russia, the United States and Japan, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

For tea exports, green tea significantly exceeded other categories in terms of both export volume and value, with export volume of green tea about 10 times higher than that of black tea, said the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products.

zhuwenqian@chinadaily.com.cn