A receptionist serves Chinatea brews to a foreigner at the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Beijing. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Every wholesale market in Algeria will likely stock at least some quantity of green tea produced by Chinatea, a subsidiary of COFCO Group. Algerians love the taste from China, and the company's products are a safe bet for any profit-minded merchant.

Chinatea is now planning to shift emphasis to green tea consumption markets in West Africa and North Africa

Small wonder, Chinatea has already carved up a nearly 13-percent share of the local market, with its green tea products alone selling about 2,000 metric tons worth US$5 million in Algeria last year.

Founded in 1949, Chinatea is also famous for its black tea, oolong tea, scented tea, white tea, and Pu'er tea: Its products are exported to 64 countries and regions across Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa, and sold through a global network of 35,000 retailers.

ALSO READ: Xiao Guan Tea aims to expand its aroma

"The company's go-global strategy can be traced back to 1949. Back then, it was in charge of tea exports for the whole country. From 1992, tea product exports gradually transformed from raw tea material to branded tea products, which became competitive in the overseas markets," said a Chinatea executive.

Since the 1980s, Chinatea's products have been prized gifts of the nation offered to visiting dignitaries as well as luminaries overseas during official visits of China's top leaders.

For instance, in 1986, Chinatea products were presented to Queen Elizabeth-II of the United Kingdom as a national gift. Similarly, in 2007, its products were sent out to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In 2014, Chinatea's products were designated the official tea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. Its products were also used by the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the BRICS Summit, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit, the China International Import Expo, among other high-profile events.

Yu Lu, deputy head of the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-products, said: "Currently, China is the third-largest country for tea exports. In 2018, China's total tea exports reached US$1.78 billion, taking up 2.24 percent of the total agricultural product exports. From 2014 to 2018, the compound annual growth rate of tea exports was 4.9 percent."

Attendees taste Chinatea products at the Qingdao Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Qingdao, Shandong province, Sept 2018. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

According to Chinatea, in recent years, its subsidiaries such as Chinatea Hunan in Central China, Chinatea Fujian in East China, Chinatea Xiamen in East China, Chinatea Yunnan in Southwest China, and Chinatea Guangxi in South China, have been developing overseas business in close cooperation, and the current annual foreign exchange earnings surpassed 200 million yuan (US$28.7 million).

According to the company, one of the reasons for the company's success overseas is that it has a good industry chain covering all aspects, from sourcing to production, manufacturing, supply, distribution, and service.

Take Safinet E'sahraa, an export tea brand of Chinatea. Its raw materials come from the high-quality tea gardens, which lie at 500 meters above sea level.

During the manufacturing process, tea leaves are checked every hour, and data thereof is maintained in records. The packaged tea products are numbered so that every step of the production process can be traced, to ensure quality.

To adapt to the local markets, the intensity of the tea products exported is adjusted according to the taste and drinking habits of the target markets. Chinatea established standards for export of green tea and chunmee green tea, with focus on criteria like color, appearance, taste, and aroma of the tea leaves.

The company selects its exclusive agents with strongest distribution capabilities, to ensure the stability of channels in a single market. The company also provides its customers with high-quality pre-sales and after-sales services. By maintaining communication with customers frequently, it can adjust product quality and packaging in a timely manner, based on customer feedback.

"In the rapidly evolving internet era, we introduced e-commerce channels, to offer diversified choices to our clients as well as consumers," said a Chinatea executive who declined to be named.

Chinatea is now planning to shift emphasis to green tea consumption markets in West Africa and North Africa. It also intends to explore deeper in the Southeast Asian, European and American markets, to expand the overall scale of its international business.

Yu said Chinatea is setting a good example for China's tea exports. In the future, better use of science, technology and innovation could help boost exports, he said.

READ MORE: Chinese tea exports stable as demand firm, potential huge

"Besides, China can do a better job in biological control, to offer global tea consumers trust in Chinese tea products."

Yang Jiangfan, team leader of the tea study project in Fujian province, said: "The quality of tea products is the foundation of China's tea exports. Quality control along the whole industry chain, and high standards are very important."