Lankan gift teas in China hit by corruption crackdown
High-priced special Ceylon Tea has hit an unusual barrier for the wrong reasons in China: A government crackdown there on civil servants receiving special gifts perceived as corruption and bribery. Some of these specialty teas retailed at between US$300 – 500 each with high-end packaging were sold in the Chinese market as gift teas ending up in the hands of top government officials in the form of gifts, Tea Exporters Association Chairman Rohan Fernando told the Business Times. He noted that these teas have seen a drop in demand since the past two years when the Chinese authorities imposed checks on its civil servants receiving these luxury items as gifts.
Though this had been a tradition to pass on these gifts to the officials, the new leadership had disapproved of it leading to not just rumblings within the Chinese bureaucracy but adding to the woes of the niche market captured by Sri Lanka, it was pointed out.
However, other general teas marketed in China were seen to grow over the years, which is a buyer of the black orthodox teas.
China was Sri Lanka’s 9th largest buyer of tea importing 4.9 million kg (of all categories) in the eight months to August 2016, up from 4.7 million in the previous year.