A tea plantation in Songyang county, which currently has 10,200 hectares of tea under cultivation. [Photo/WeChat account: ls-mnews]

The 15th China Tea Trading Fair is scheduled to be held from March 26-28 in Songyang county – administered by Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province – according to officials speaking at a news conference held by the local government on March 21.

In a departure from previous events, this year the fair will be totally online due to the current novel coronavirus epidemic.

Among all the activities due to be held, a Cloud Spring Tea Party scheduled on March 27 will give a presentation of the local tea culture, tea industry and tea technology through a multi-scene live broadcast. 

Moreover, as the highlight of the event, a series of marketing activities will be held via live streaming platforms such as Taobao and Douyin. What's more, top livestreamers are expected to promote Songyang tea.

As a leading county in Lishui's tea industry, Songyang has held the China Tea Trading Fair for 14 consecutive years.

The county is committed to becoming a "China Organic Tea Town" – by establishing a series of organic tea demonstration centers, developing a number of benchmark producers in the sector, as well as creating a range of characteristic tea products.

The county has also been vigorously developing livestreaming as a marketing tool in recent years. Last year alone, online retail sales for Songyang tea hit 2.6 billion yuan ($408.54 million), soaring 139 percent year-on-year.