Ceylon tea market grows in China

The Sri Lankan Embassy in China participated in an international charity sale titled `Love Knows No Borders' held at the striking Olympic Green on September 12.

Over 70 embassies in Beijing, international organisations and five organisations from the Chinese Foreign Ministry were invited.

Visitors at the stall

The charity sale, aimd at raising funds for children from Malipo and Jinping, two poverty-stricken villages in Yunnan Province, was initiated by Le Aimei, wife of Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and honorary Ambassador for Poverty Alleviation for the Foreign Ministry.

The sale is held every two years and this is the first time that the sale was held outdoors.

Over 80 charity sales booths were set up to sell crafts and goods from different countries, including books, handcrafts, ethnic clothes and exotic cuisines and the famous Sri Lanka Black Tea known as Hong chao in Chinese which is fast becoming popular among the Chinese.

The wife of Sri Lanka ambassador expressed her happiness at the thought of the contributions the embassy made to children in Yunnan.

This has also helped us to popularise Sri Lanka Black tea among the Chinese as well as among the other embassies said CEO, Beijing Heavenly Tea company Anura Banda who is marketing Impra brand in China. The Embassy also made use of this opportunity to introduce infinity tea and exclusive Ceylon Tea brands to the visitors.

The Commercial Counselor Alexi Gunasekera joined the embassy staff at this Charity Sale.

Ambassador Amunugama participating in the charity sale with other Ambassadors said that the demand for Sri Lanka Tea at the Charity Sale shows that Sri Lanka Tea commonly known as red tea (Hong Cha), has great potential to secure a bigger share in China's RMB 80 billion tea market for its fine quality.

He said that the Sri Lankan embassy was happy to be a part of this worthy cause by selling black, gold or pure Ceylon Tea to raise funds for the province.

Visitors from Beijing and abroad took part in this Charity Sale where more than 1 million Yuan ($146,500) was raised, including donations from sponsors such as Lenovo ZTE ,China Harbor and Sino Trucks .

Well-equipped schools will be set up in Malipo and Jinping with these funds. Over 200 million Yuan ($29.3 million) has been financed by the Foreign Ministry to improve local education in impoverished areas since 1992.