‘Blend Pak-China tea for international market’

BEIJING: Broken tea from China and Pakistan could be blended and made into new products for the international market, said He Qingyuan, deputy director of Tea Research Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Yunnan has many advantages in developing the black tea industry.

“One is that the ecological environment is very good and the quality of tea is very high. Second, the variety of Yunnan black tea is very unique, which is rich in nutrients and contains very high levels of tea polyphenols and theaflavins,” Qingyuan said.

In Pakistan, the demand for broken black tea is high. “The main producing areas of broken black tea in Yunnan are Lincang, Baoshan, and Dehong. Broken black tea is mainly used to make teabags. Its price is not high in China. Yunnan is also searching for ways to increase its export,” CEN reported on Friday.

According to Qingyuan, broken black tea has the highest level of mechanisation among black tea products.

“Tea trees are perennials and can only be planted artificially. Trimming and picking machines are used in tea garden management. After picking, tea leaves will be processed into broken black tea with CTC combined machines. The higher the degree of mechanisation, the lower the cost,” he said, adding that it also guaranteed quality.

Pakistan could produce high-quality broken black tea due to its suitable climate, the expert said, adding that most of the raw materials for broken black tea in Pakistan were a species called Assam tea, which was introduced from India, while the Indian Assam tea originated in Yunnan.

He also agreed that industrial transfer or guidance from Yunnan to Pakistan could be an effective way for tea cooperation. “Internationalisation requires the integration of international resources. For example, the famous tea company Lipton purchases broken black tea from Yunnan, India, Sri Lanka, and Kenya, and blends them into unique flavoured products, which is very suitable for international consumption.”

Both China and Pakistan could use this method to develop a new tea product to launch in the international market, he said.