Guizhou brews new economic growth with tea

Cherry blossoms decorate a tea garden in Yuqing county, Guizhou province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

As temperature rises, most tea growers in Guizhou province begin picking spring tea leaves.

Guizhou was home to over 466,666 hectares of tea plantations by the end of 2020, ranking first in China. The province's annual tea production reached 436,000 metric tons last year, with an output value of 50.38 billion yuan ($7.78 billion), data from the Guizhou Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs showed.

Tea has become one of the leading agricultural industries in Guizhou. A total of 3.4 million people are engaged in tea-related industries in the province, with their annual per capita income hitting 12,351 yuan last year, according to the department.

Zhao Yandi in Guiyang contributed to this story.