In 2022, Anxi County controlled nearly half of China’s tea sales channels
A population of 1.2 million, 80% engaged in tea farming (primarily Tieguanyin), 300,000 running distribution channels and teashops, with over 40,000 stores nationwide. E-commerce revenue hit roughly 8.05 billion RMB in 2022, accounting for nearly 25% of China’s tea e-commerce sales. The average household of tea farmers harvests about 2,000 jin (roughly 1,000 kg) of tea per year, earning 150,000 RMB annually.
How did they build these channels? In ancient times, the gates opened and tea was sold to Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and overseas. Later, foreign standards grew stricter on pesticide residues, so exports dropped and they pivoted to domestic sales—Chinese consumers, it seems, are immune to every toxin. The main driver became Fujian merchants giving local tea as gifts, slowly spreading it nationwide. After all, Fujianese people were everywhere across China for many years.
What others call a bad market is simply when purchase price growth falls below 30%. To hedge against shifting tastes—not everyone will forever prefer Tieguanyin—they expanded planting varieties. They now grow pretty much every cultivar available nationwide. Bulk Tieguanyin sells at 170 RMB per jin, wholesale at 80 RMB per jin. Customer repurchase rate approaches 90%. E-commerce gross margins typically run around 50%. A four-person livestream team pushes 300,000 RMB in daily sales. The county’s housing prices shot up to 20,000 RMB per square meter.
One county, one hero product—a single explosive industry chain can lift the entire county toward shared prosperity.