This plan has been formulated to comprehensively advance the high-quality development of the tea industry in Xinyang City, accelerate improvements in quality and efficiency within the sector, and support rural revitalization, taking into account the actual conditions of our city.

I. Guiding Principles

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will thoroughly study and implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, comprehensively deepen and advance the “1335” work framework, use the improvement of interest-linkage mechanisms as a connecting link, integrate production, processing, and sales, and fuse tea with culture and tourism. We will promote the strengthening, supplementation, and extension of the tea industry chain,enhance the quality, efficiency, and sustainable development capacity of the city’s tea industry, and build a tea industry ecosystem characterized by a strong green foundation, robust innovation capabilities, a complete industrial chain, and close ties to farmers. This will drive the high-quality development of the tea industry and provide strong support for advancing comprehensive rural revitalization and the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

II. Objectives and Tasks

Centered on the development philosophy of “major brands, major enterprises, major markets, and major integration,” we will further enhance tea quality, drive industrial upgrading, cultivate leading enterprises, build tea brands, improve the market system, strengthen technological innovation, and promote industrial integration. We will strive to establish a new development pattern for the tea industry characterized by cultural enrichment, technological empowerment, and industrial integration, thereby continuously advancing the high-quality development of the city’s tea industry.

By 2025, the city’s tea garden area will remain stable, the rate of high-quality tea varieties will gradually increase, the area of certified green tea gardens will reach 700,000 mu, and the area of certified organic tea gardens will reach 10,000 mu; the city’s total tea production will reach 100,000 tons, and the comprehensive output value of the tea industry will reach 50 billion yuan;The city will cultivate 1–2 new national-level leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization for the tea sector and 2–3 provincial-level leading enterprises; tea exports will exceed 10,000 metric tons, with the target export value reaching 300 million yuan.

III. Implementation Measures

In light of domestic and international trends in the tea industry and the actual conditions of our city’s tea sector, we will closely focus on the “Three Teas Coordination” strategy and prioritize the following measures to promote high-quality development of the city’s tea industry:

(1) Upholding Cultural Leadership to Enhance the Soft Power of the Tea Industry

1. Strengthen the preservation and protection of tea culture. Organize and carry out research on tea culture, thoroughly excavate and compile local tea-related materials and heritage—including tea history, customs, songs, techniques, arts, products, and figures—protect and restore tea cultural sites and relics, integrate the construction of facilities for the protection and utilization of tea cultural heritage into urban and rural development plans for coordinated layout, and establish tea culture archives and protection lists.Carry out project applications for tea-related intangible cultural heritage, establish “Xinyang Maojian” intangible cultural heritage transmission bases, and identify and certify a group of intangible cultural heritage inheritors to pass on and promote tea culture. By 2025, the city will have 15 “Xinyang Maojian” intangible cultural heritage transmission bases and 35 municipal-level intangible cultural heritage inheritors.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism; Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Municipal Bureau of Housing and Urban-Rural Development; Municipal Bureau of Education and Sports; Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning; Governments of all counties and districts)

2. Strengthen the promotion and dissemination of tea culture. Popularize knowledge of tea culture and organize activities to bring tea culture into schools, government agencies, communities, enterprises, and households. Foster an atmosphere of tea culture by integrating tea culture elements into public spaces such as city streets, squares, and buildings, as well as into public service advertisements.Increase promotional efforts across traditional media as well as new media platforms such as the internet, mobile apps, and live-streaming platforms. Interpret Xinyang’s tea culture through youthful expressions to inject new vitality into its “breaking out of the niche” dissemination. Innovatively organize the Xinyang Tea Culture Festival to establish a high-level platform for international and domestic exchange and mutual learning regarding Xinyang’s tea culture, striving to build a prominent hub for tea culture.Support the organization of folk tea events such as the three major tea gatherings for the Grain Rain, Dragon Boat, and Mid-Autumn festivals to increase participation from the tea industry and the general public, thereby deepening the roots of tea culture. Actively organize enterprises to participate in “International Tea Day” as well as major domestic tea expos, trade fairs, and tea competitions to showcase and promote Xinyang’s tea culture, thereby enhancing its influence.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism; Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative; Municipal Bureau of Housing and Urban-Rural Development; Municipal Urban Management Bureau; Municipal Market Regulation Bureau; Municipal Bureau of Education and Sports; Governments of all counties and districts)

3. Strengthen the development of tea culture facilities. Focusing on the construction of “100 Star-Rated Tea Estates” and the creation of premium tea-culture tourism routes, we will develop a series of tea-culture tourism projects that integrate ecological tea garden sightseeing, tea culture exhibitions, and tea processing experiences.Explore the planning and construction of landmark “tea complexes” in the central urban area, centered on tea and integrating multiple elements such as tea spaces, experiential activities, exhibitions, tea art, tea tasting, and cultural gatherings, to enhance the city’s reputation as the “Capital of Maojian Tea.” Using the restoration and reconstruction of the “Eight Great Tea Houses” as a key initiative, deeply explore the traditional tea culture unique to Xinyang, develop tea culture products, enrich the cultural significance of tea, and effectively tell the story of Xinyang tea.The city will establish 100 star-rated tea estates, with each tea-producing county or district creating 1–2 premium tea culture tourism routes and building 1–2 tea culture-themed spaces.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism; Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning; Municipal Urban Management Bureau; Municipal Culture and Tourism Investment Group; and governments of all counties and districts)

(2) Strengthen Industrial Upgrading and Enhance the Competitiveness of the Tea Industry

1. Develop Ecological Tea Gardens. Firmly uphold the concept of green development, adhere to the principles of prioritizing ecology, planting tea where suitable, and pursuing moderate development, and continuously advance the construction of high-standard ecological tea gardens and the renovation of low-yield, low-efficiency tea gardens.Organize and implement the “Green, High-Quality, and High-Efficiency Tea” initiative, strengthen scientific management of tea gardens, promote ecological tea cultivation, and advance soil testing and formula-based fertilization, green pest and disease control, water-fertilizer integration, and the substitution of organic fertilizers. Encourage tea enterprises and tea cooperatives to actively pursue organic, green, and other relevant certifications. By 2025, the city’s organic tea garden area will reach 10,000 mu, the green tea garden area will reach 700,000 mu, and green pest and disease control will achieve full coverage in tea gardens.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, and governments of all counties and districts)

2. Optimize Product Structure. In accordance with market demand, actively adjust the product structure to achieve product diversification and variety, thereby meeting differentiated market needs. While maintaining the production of Xinyang Maojian tea, continuously expand the product range and intensify research and development efforts for various tea categories—including Xinyang Black Tea, Xinyang White Tea, and reprocessed teas—as well as deep-processed tea products, tea-derived products, tea-themed cultural and creative products, and new-style tea beverages.Give equal emphasis to spring, summer, and autumn tea production. While ensuring the production of high-quality spring teas, expand the production of bulk summer and autumn teas to increase tea output and profitability. Promote further optimization of the tea product structure and extension of the industrial chain to enhance the added value and overall benefits of tea products.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology, Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism, School of Tea Science at Xinyang University of Agriculture and Forestry, School of Life Sciences at Xinyang Normal University, and governments of all counties and districts)

3. Promote industrial upgrading. While preserving and passing down traditional craftsmanship, vigorously promote modern tea production methods, improve the standardization system, and gradually increase the mechanization of tea garden management as well as the levels of cleanliness, automation, and intelligence in tea processing.Standardize processing technical procedures for Xinyang Maojian, Xinyang Black Tea, Xinyang White Tea, and other varieties, and accelerate the formulation and refinement of a series of national, local, industry, and group standards, as well as physical standard samples. Strictly enforce national regulations on tea packaging and promote the application of eco-friendly packaging. By 2025, the city will construct or renovate 100 artisanal tea workshops and establish 200 standardized tea processing plants.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning, School of Tea Science at Xinyang University of Agriculture and Forestry, School of Life Sciences at Xinyang Normal University, Municipal Tea Association, and governments of all counties and districts)

4. Cultivate Leading Enterprises. Support local leading tea enterprises in expanding and strengthening their operations. In each tea-producing county or district, cultivate 1–2 anchor enterprises with strong driving power to build a local enterprise cluster in Xinyang. Intensify efforts to attract top-tier enterprises, striving to attract more than 5 leading tea industry brands and more than 10 “hidden champions” and specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative enterprises to settle in Xinyang within three years, thereby leveraging external resources to construct a matrix of Xinyang tea enterprises.Strengthen support in areas such as land, transportation, water conservancy, electricity, telecommunications, finance, and talent to facilitate the development of leading enterprises. Actively explore a “four-in-one” industrial consortium model featuring “government + leading enterprises + financial institutions + farmer professional cooperatives,” innovate mechanisms for “linking and benefiting farmers,” and achieve the goal of “enterprises (cooperatives) driving the industry, and the industry driving farmers.”

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning, Municipal Financial Work Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Municipal Transportation Bureau, Municipal Water Resources Bureau, and governments of all counties and districts)

5. Strengthen brand development. Promote the coordinated development of “public brands and corporate brands” to avoid homogenized competition and foster a diverse and vibrant market.Strengthen the protection, use, and management of public brands to safeguard their reputation. Encourage and guide eligible market entities to use regional public brands, gradually achieving the “three unifications” for regional public brands (unified certification, unified production processes, and unified logos). Organize brand promotion activities and increase brand publicity through mainstream and new media to enhance the visibility and reputation of the Xinyang tea brand.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Tea Association, and governments of all counties and districts)

6. Improve the market system. Develop and upgrade local tea markets, and enhance the supporting facilities of the “National Xinyang Tea Market.” Actively participate in various tea exhibitions in key domestic cities, strengthen market coordination and production-sales integration, and increase the visibility and market share of Xinyang tea. Support enterprises in expanding into international markets through the “Belt and Road” initiative to increase export earnings. Encourage enterprises to engage in online sales and establish a market network system that promotes coordinated development of both online and offline channels.Explore the establishment of “Xinyang Maojian” experience stores or “Two Teas and One Vegetable” specialty stores in key cities both within and outside the province to incubate and nurture market entities for Xinyang tea. By 2025, cultivate five live-streaming demonstration bases across the city, hold annual live-streaming e-commerce industry conferences, and foster a group of live-streaming influencers (or teams) specializing in Xinyang tea sales. Each tea-producing county and district shall organize participation in no fewer than two domestic exhibition and promotion events annually.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Bureau of Administrative Approval and Government Information Management, Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Xinyang Customs, Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Xinyang Tea Association, and governments of all counties and districts)

7. Strengthen Legal Protection.Strictly adhere to the relevant requirements of the “Xinyang Xinyang Maojian Tea Protection Regulations” to maintain market order for Xinyang Maojian tea, promote high-quality development of the Xinyang Maojian tea industry, conduct integrated online and offline law enforcement, establish cross-regional law enforcement cooperation mechanisms, and legally address trademark infringement as well as the production and sale of counterfeit Xinyang Maojian tea. Establish and improve a traceability system, utilize the anti-counterfeiting and traceability functions of Xinyang Maojian tea, and strengthen the protection of the Xinyang Maojian tea brand.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Tea Association, and governments of all counties and districts)

(3) Emphasize Technology-Driven Development to Boost New Momentum in the Tea Industry

1. Promote the Protection and Dissemination of Superior Varieties. Conduct a comprehensive survey of the city’s tea plant germplasm resources to ascertain their inventory and varietal composition. Establish a citywide inventory of protected wild old tea trees, a digital database of tea gardens, and a germplasm resource repository for tea plants, ensuring that all existing tea plant germplasm resources in the city are fully protected.Actively carry out the selection and breeding of high-quality clonal tea varieties, and obtain approval and filing at the national and provincial levels. Increase efforts to propagate and promote high-quality clonal tea varieties such as “Xinyang No. 10,” gradually raising the proportion of clonal varieties in the city’s tea gardens. By 2025, establish 2–3 tea variety propagation bases, each covering more than 100 mu.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Tea Science at Xinyang University of Agriculture and Forestry, College of Life Sciences at Xinyang Normal University, and governments of all counties and districts)

2. Establish a Quality and Safety System. Strengthen law enforcement and regulatory oversight of inputs used in tea gardens. Implement comprehensive quality management for tea production enterprises across all stages—from cultivation, processing, and packaging to transportation and sales—to ensure that tea quality and safety are monitorable and traceable.Encourage tea enterprises to actively pursue SC certification, organic certification, and European standard certification, and strengthen their awareness of quality and safety. Actively engage in technical cooperation with domestic and international tea research institutes to promote green and low-carbon production models, improve testing systems, and establish risk control mechanisms, thereby continuously enhancing the quality and safety standards of our city’s tea. By 2025, strive to have more than 300 SC-certified tea enterprises citywide.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, and governments of all counties and districts)

3. Establish a Science and Technology Service System. Relying on the Dabie Mountain Laboratory, we will undertake research projects focused on deep processing of tea, key process technologies, and fundamental research. We will integrate the city’s tea research and educational resources, actively engage in strategic cooperation with renowned domestic tea research institutes, establish an expert database for “three teas” and a science and technology service system, integrate the technology chain into the industrial chain, and use science and technology to drive industrial development.The city will annually dispatch more than 50 tea industry science and technology special envoys to tea enterprises to provide technical services, achieving basic coverage of all tea-producing counties and districts in the city. We will encourage and support leading enterprises to establish product R&D centers, promote the sharing of information resources and equipment, and enable enterprises to become the main drivers of product innovation and technology transfer.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, School of Tea Science at Xinyang University of Agriculture and Forestry, School of Life Sciences at Xinyang Normal University, and governments of all counties and districts)

4. Accelerate the development of digital platforms. Accelerate the application of the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and artificial intelligence (AI) to upgrade the traditional tea industry. Encourage tea enterprises to build big data application scenarios for the tea industry, including digital tea gardens, digital factories, digital warehousing, digital traceability, digital tea tourism, digital management, and digital marketing, and promote the development of the digital tea industry through intelligent manufacturing, intelligent packaging, and smart tea gardens.Increase fiscal investment, encourage social participation, and support tea-producing counties and districts in building “Digital Service Platforms for the Tea Industry.” Implement digital service management across all stages of tea production—from planting, harvesting, processing, and packaging to storage, transportation, and sales—to comprehensively elevate the quality of the city’s tea industry through digital empowerment.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Administrative Approval and Government Information Management, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and governments of all counties and districts)

5. Strengthen Talent Development. Integrate resources from education, science and technology, agriculture, enterprises, and society to promote coordinated development in tea culture, the tea industry, and tea science and technology. Support the establishment of a sound mechanism for talent complementarity between research institutions and enterprises through measures such as bringing talent into enterprises, introducing scientific research into enterprises, and integrating culture into enterprises.Leverage talent recruitment policies to attract a cohort of high-caliber professionals to the tea industry; implement the “Citywide Tea Industry High-Quality Development Thousand-Person Training Program,” organizing tea enterprises, tea farmers, and tea-related technical personnel across the city to participate in off-site technical training, with the goal of training over 1,000 participants by 2025.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, School of Tea Science at Xinyang University of Agriculture and Forestry, Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and governments of all counties and districts)

IV. Support Measures

(1) Improve the consultation mechanism. Establish a Xinyang City Tea Industry Expert Consultation Mechanism to hold regular consultation meetings to support the high-quality development of the city’s tea industry. The Xinyang City Tea Industry Development Center shall propose recommendations for the selection and appointment of experts, which, upon approval by the municipal government, will result in the issuance of letters of appointment. Develop a medium- to long-term plan for the high-quality development of Xinyang’s tea industry.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; governments of all counties and districts)

(2) Strengthen Policy Support. In accordance with the relevant requirements of the “Xinyang City Regulations on the Protection of Xinyang Maojian Tea,” the municipal government shall establish a special fund for the development of the Xinyang Maojian tea industry. This fund shall prioritize support for the conservation and utilization of tea germplasm resources, the breeding and promotion of new varieties, the construction of standardized tea gardens, tea quality testing, tea brand development, scientific and technological research and development, talent cultivation, market expansion, and promotional activities. County and district governments may also establish special funds for the development of the Xinyang Maojian tea industry.Formulate preferential policies, intensify efforts to attract investment, and encourage and guide private capital to flow into the tea industry. Innovate financial services and encourage and guide financial institutions to increase credit support for the entire tea industry chain in accordance with market principles.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Rural Revitalization Bureau, Municipal Financial Work Bureau, and governments of all counties and districts)

(3) Promote the Implementation of Tasks. In accordance with the objectives and tasks outlined in this plan, all relevant tea-producing counties and districts, as well as relevant municipal departments, shall assign specific tasks to designated leaders and personnel, establish clear timelines for each objective and task, and ensure the smooth advancement of high-quality development of the city’s tea industry.

(Responsible Units: Governments of all counties and districts; relevant municipal departments)

Appendix: “Xinyang City Policy Measures to Support the High-Quality Development of the Tea Industry”

Attachment

Policy Measures of Xinyang City to Support the High-Quality Development of the Tea Industry

To further leverage the guiding role of policies and continuously promote the high-quality development of the tea industry in our city, the following policy measures are hereby formulated.

I. Cultivating and Supporting Leading Enterprises. We will continue to cultivate and strengthen key leading enterprises with strong driving capabilities and promising development prospects, providing them with priority support in the allocation of project funds at all levels. New enterprises newly approved as national-level or provincial-level agricultural industrialization leading enterprises in the tea sector will receive one-time rewards of 300,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan, respectively; those newly included in the “Top 100 Chinese Tea Enterprises” will receive a one-time reward of 100,000 yuan; and those ranking in the top 10 will receive a one-time reward of 200,000 yuan.Based on economic contribution, annual financial rewards will be granted to the top 3–5 tea enterprises. Specific implementation measures will be formulated by the Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Municipal Tea Industry Development Center in conjunction with the Municipal Finance Bureau.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Tea Industry Development Center, Municipal Finance Bureau)

II. Support the Recruitment of Leading Enterprises. Encourage large enterprises such as central state-owned enterprises, state-owned enterprises, and listed companies to carry out mergers and reorganizations of existing tea enterprises. Support the recruitment of leading enterprises for investment and cooperation to expand enterprise scale, optimize resource allocation, and enhance market competitiveness.Strengthen support in areas such as land, transportation, water conservancy, electricity, telecommunications, finance, and talent to foster the development of leading enterprises. For investment entities that carry out mergers and reorganizations or attract investment with an actual capital contribution of no less than 50 million yuan, a one-time reward of 1 million yuan will be granted upon approval by relevant government departments.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Tea Industry Development Center)

III. Support for Brand Development and Market Expansion. The municipal government will allocate 2 million yuan annually from the budget to support the development and promotion of regional public tea brands such as “Xinyang Maojian,” “Xinyang Hong,” and “Xinyang Bai Cha,” and to support tea enterprises in participating in various domestic and international tea exhibitions, including tea expos, trade fairs, and promotional events.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Tea Industry Development Center)

IV. Support for Integrated Industrial Development. Priority support will be given to the construction of star-rated tea estates across the city. For tea estates that achieve integrated development across primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, reach a corresponding scale, possess complete facilities, and offer a diverse range of products—and are recognized by the municipal government as “Four-Star” or higher—a subsidy of 100,000 yuan will be awarded for every 2 million yuan of actual annual investment, up to a maximum of 500,000 yuan.

(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Tea Industry Development Center)

This policy measure will be implemented from 2023 to 2025.