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The Tea Trade

Guides to buying and importing Chinese tea

Tea grades, import duties and rules by country, packaging, shipping and trade data. Every fact comes with its source, and every figure that can change with the date it was checked.

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By the numbers

Figures from the guides, each with its source.

  • 418,757 tonnes

    of tea exported by China in 2025, 11.9% more than in 2024

    MOFCOM Read the guide

  • 88.1%

    of the tea China exported in 2025 was green tea, by volume

    MOFCOM, CTMA Read the guide

  • 91,393 tonnes

    of Chinese tea went to Morocco in 2025, the first destination

    MOFCOM, UN Comtrade Read the guide

  • 2.5%

    import duty on green tea in Morocco in packings of 20 kg or more; 30% below

    Moroccan customs Read the guide

  • 10%

    customs duty on green tea under the ECOWAS common external tariff, packed or bulk

    ECOWAS Read the guide

  • 7.0%

    maximum moisture for every grade of gunpowder tea in China's national standard

    GB/T 14456.4-2016 Read the guide

Teas

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Chinese tea types and grades

Chinese tea types and export grades, such as gunpowder and chunmee.

Markets

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Tea import rules by country

Import duties, documents and payment rules, country by country.

Packaging

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Tea packaging

How inner bags, roll stock and foil paper protect tea, and how customs classify them.

How foil packaging protects tea

Green tea loses colour and aroma when it takes up moisture or oxygen. A layer of aluminium foil blocks more moisture and oxygen than a metallized layer or paper.

What barrier means
How a foil laminate keeps tea fresh Four layers, from the outside in: outer film, print, aluminium foil and the sealing layer, which touches the tea. Moisture, oxygen and light stop at the aluminium foil. Outer film Print Aluminium foil the barrier Sealing layer the tea side H₂OO₂Light

Trade

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Tea trade practice

Payment terms, shipping and the documents of an order.

China–Africa tea shipping times, port by port

China–Africa tea shipping times: 22–28 days' sailing from Shanghai to Casablanca via Suez, 24–31 to Tema round the Cape (calculated), plus hubs and port waits.

8 min read

Data

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Tea trade data

Tea exports and imports, from customs statistics and UN Comtrade.

Bar chart of the ten largest destinations for Chinese tea by volume in 2025, in tonnes: Morocco 91,393, Uzbekistan 29,217, Senegal 24,449, Mauritania 20,117, Ghana 18,075, Côte d’Ivoire 16,701, Russia 16,038, Algeria 15,298, Chad 12,894 and Japan 11,192.
Sources: MOFCOM; UN Comtrade via WITS (2025)

Glossary and tools

Glossary

Tea packaging terms explained in plain words, with the French and Chinese equivalents.

roll stock
FR bobine · 中文 卷膜
barrier (moisture / oxygen)
FR barrière (humidité / oxygène) · 中文 阻隔性（防潮、防氧化）
laminated film
FR film complexe · 中文 复合膜
letter of credit (L/C)
FR crédit documentaire · 中文 信用证
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Tools

A roll stock checklist, the unwind direction chart and roll calculators for tea packing lines.

  1. 01 What to tell your film supplier
  2. 02 Unwind direction
  3. 03 Roll calculators
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How the guides are written

Our editorial principles
  1. 1 Official and primary sources first
  2. 2 Every fact that can change is dated
  3. 3 Only what can be checked
  4. 4 Corrections by email