BEIJING:
“Tea is an integral part of our culture, joy and conversation. One cannot remove tea from a Pakistani’s life,” said Sadia Khatri, a writer from Karachi. “Any time is a good time for tea.”
This sentiment reflects the deep-rooted tea culture in Pakistan, which has made the country the world’s largest importer of tea.
Last year alone, Pakistan imported tea worth more than $600 million (about RMB 4.033 billion).
China’s tea exports to Pakistan totaled $5.76 million in 2023, according to the United Nations’ COMTRADE international trade database.
“I am here to explore and find the right varieties of tea,” said Pakistani trader Abdul Haq at the 17th Beijing International Tea Fair. “China is the birthplace of tea and Pakistan has a deep-rooted tea drinking culture.
Pakistanis love Chinese green tea, black tea and oolong tea, with high-quality varieties being highly sought after in our market.
The tea trade between us is not just trade, but a reflection of our cultural and emotional relationship. In other words, the aroma of tea merges us.”
Haq further added, “In my country, black tea is the most popular, usually made with milk, spices, lemon slices and even chopped nuts. Interestingly, young people in China are also crazy about milk tea, something which I think shows how cultures mix and thrive together.”
Manzoor Ali, Counselor of the Pakistani embassy in China, also expressed optimism for future Pakistan-China cooperation in the tea industry. “With a population of over 200 million, Pakistan is a major consumer of tea,” he noted. “Our embassy has signed an MoU with the China International Engineering Consulting Association (CAIEC) International Business Advisory Council.
Through cooperation with Chinese tea companies, we aim not only to meet the demand of the domestic market, but also to expand our reach to neighboring Islamic countries and even European nations.”
He Qingyuan, a senior official at the Tea Research Institute of the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, highlighted further opportunities for cooperation.
“The broken tea from China and Pakistan can be blended to create new products for the international market, achieving a win-win situation for both industries,” said Qingyuan. In Pakistan, demand for broken black tea remains high, particularly for use in tea bags.
“Broken black tea is relatively cheap in China and Yunnan is looking for ways to boost its exports. Industrial transfer or guidance from Yunnan to Pakistan could be a very effective way to boost Pakistan-China tea cooperation.” , Qingyuan added.
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