Lincang, of Southwest China’s Yunnan province, is renowned worldwide as the “the home of Yunnan’s black tea and Wa ethnic culture”, as well as for being an overland shortcut from Kunming to Yangon, Burma.

It is also the most favorable place for tea-tree growth, a key source of the world’s tea plantations and tea culture, the origin of Yunnan broadleaf tea, and the birthplace of the world-famous Dianhong black tea.

From here, the black tea of Yunnan goes to many countries and regions worldwide.

Last year, Lincang and Unilever signed a five-year strategic agreement in which Unilever will buy 20,000 to 30,000 tons of black tea from Lincang every year.

Nestle SA, Kraft Foods Inc, Unilever and other international brands has pledged to use materials from the Rainforest Alliance-certificated base.

Rainforest Alliance is an NGO that works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices and business practices and consumer behavior.

The association has awarded certification to Green Fountain (Yunnan) Tea Ltd, which has become the first Rainforest Alliance-certificated tea garden in China.

“The tea-planting area in Yunnan is about 500,000 hectares, with an output of $15.5 billion, but the value of exports is only $20 million. It is far from our developmental needs,” said Wang Jianwei, an official with the commerce department of the Yunnan provincial government.

“The memorandum of understanding signed with Unilever is good for Yunnan tea to be in line with international standards and to reach high-end markets,” Wang said.

Lincang is to follow the international standards to make it a first-class origin of black tea.

In 2012, Yunnan Dianhong’s Feng brand tea was awarded with many prizes such as State Gold Prize, Chinese Famous Brand and Foreign Affairs Gift Tea.

Now, Yunnan Dianhong has begun working with Sri Lanka in the teabag sector, with the intention to create black-tea plantations in Sri Lanka.