Technology-empowered white tea industry generates wealth for county in SE China’s Fujian

A burgeoning white tea industry is bringing wealth to Zhenghe county in Nanping city, southeast China's Fujian Province, with the help of technologies.

Tea grower Tang Shiming and his wife Huang Funyu pick tea leaves in a tea garden called Bailuke in the Dahong village, Zhenghe county, Nanping city, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Chinanews.com/Zheng Jiangluo)

As a major white tea-growing region throughout China’s history, Zhenghe is now home to nearly 110,000 mu (about 7,333.33 hectares) of tea gardens. With an output value exceeding 4 billion yuan (about $599.6 million), the tea industry has increased income for 133, 800 tea growers.

The county is home to 23 demonstration zones for high-quality tea, covering an area of over 40,000 mu of land. For example, a 300-mu tea garden called Bailuke in the Dahong village of Tieshan township, is now being “looked after” by intelligent equipment that monitors real-time air humidity conditions inside the garden as well as recording the growth of the tea trees. It also supports livestreaming sessions for people to check on the conditions of the tea trees.

“The tea garden is a manifestation of green development, as biopesticides rather than chemical fertilizers are used here,” introduced Yang Wufei, deputy head of the township. Yang added that VR technologies enable tea growers to monitor the conditions of the tea garden directly on their smart phones.

“The price of the freshly picked tea leaves grows every year and has reached 260 yuan per kilogram this year,” said a 63-year-old tea grower named Tang Shiming, who was busy picking tea leaves in the garden. “My family owns 5 mu of tea gardens, which generate over 30,000 yuan per year.”

A worker introduces the intelligent warehouse at a white tea trade mart in Zhenghe county, Nanping city, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Chinanews.com/Zheng Jiangluo)

Moreover, a white tea trade mart opened in the county in 2021, which offers intelligent warehousing solutions through the deployment of autonomous mobile robots. Chen Jianzhong, deputy general manager of the trade mart said that thanks to a centralized management model, business owners here can check the condition of their goods via a mini-program on WeChat, which saves on labor costs.

Apart from its exhibition, trading and storage facilities, the trade mart supports the provision of new services, including financial services for enterprises that focus on supply chains, credit guarantees and auctions. So far, 139 tea enterprises have set up shop inside the trade mart.