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Kunming Customs Awards Menghai County Major Export Tea Base Status
Kunming Customs officially designated Menghai County as China's largest standardized export tea raw material base under a unified regulatory framework.
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Illustrative image; not a photograph of this reported event. Photo by Alan Jeeson on Pexels
The Brief
China News Service reported that Kunming Customs formally awarded Menghai County in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, a plaque designating it as a major export tea base. The site represents the largest standardized export tea raw material base in China, increasing Yunnan's major export tea bases to 4.
To overcome previous bottlenecks, Xishuangbanna Customs collaborated with Menghai County departments to develop the base through an innovative 1 plus N filing management system. Under this approach, the number 1 designates the consolidation of all qualified local tea plantations into a single large base for unified filing and supervision, while N provides separate filings for individual bases with special requirements from enterprises or importing countries.
The base operates under five unified management standards covering unified planting management, agricultural input management, pest and disease prevention, quality and safety monitoring, and product traceability. This framework creates a full-chain control and traceability system running directly from the tea plantations through to final export.
Xishuangbanna Customs also introduced online filing operations, delivered tailored policy counseling through specific outreach mechanisms, and opened a dedicated service window and consultation hotline for Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership certificates of origin, offering intelligent certificate review and self-service printing.
Why it matters
Menghai County Deputy County Head Yang Zhongsi stated that bringing dispersed plantations under customs oversight expands export raw material supplies, lowers compliance costs for enterprises, enhances the international competitiveness of Pu'er tea, and helps increase tea farmers' income.
China context
Menghai County ranks first among Chinese counties in tea planting area and contains wild tea trees over 1700 years old. However, its previously registered plantations were scattered and applied inconsistent standards, creating an insufficient supply of export-ready raw materials that constrained the expansion of Pu'er tea exports.
Key Takeaways
- 1Kunming Customs formally awarded Menghai County a plaque designating China's largest standardized export tea raw material base.
- 2Officials established a 1 plus N filing framework to consolidate qualified tea plantations under unified customs oversight.
- 3The initiative institutes five unified management standards spanning cultivation, input monitoring, disease prevention, safety testing, and traceability.
Sources
- 中国最大出口茶叶原料基地落地云南勐海 — China News Service · 10/31/2026