According to Sichuan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on February 15, 2022, the comprehensive output value of Sichuan's tea in 2021 exceeded 100 billion yuan for the first time, with the amount of sales ranking third in China. The province achieved the industrial development goal one year ahead of schedule and made the tea another advantageous characteristic agricultural industry with the output value exceeding 100 billion yuan besides pigs, grain and oil, vegetables, fruits, and oxen and goats.
    In 2021, the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Sichuan has advanced tea gardens' efficiency and quality improvement and green transformation, processing technology improvement, faster tea-tourism integration and continuous market expansion led by brand building of the province's Tianfu Bestea. According to the data of 2021, the total area of tea gardens in Sichuan reached about 3,986.67 square kilometers and the production of primary tea amounted to 350,000 tons, up 80 square kilometers and 15,000 tons year on year respectively. The output value of primary tea expanded more than 10% to reach 33.5 billion yuan.
    In terms of tea garden transformation and upgrading, the province has endeavored to promote the cultivation of high-quality seeds, make the gardens more suitable for mechanized farming, and advance green production. It has also expedited the construction of "two belts and two clusters", namely an industrial belt of famous, high-quality green tea in southwest Sichuan, an industrial belt of high-quality selenium-enriched tea and a cluster for the development of jasmine tea in northeast Sichuan, and a cluster for the development of Sichuan's congou. In the province's tea gardens, the green prevention and control area, the percent of pass in random tea inspection, the percentage of high-quality seeds and the mechanization rate in tea picking have all set record highs.
    As for tea processing, Sichuan takes factory renovation, equipment improvement and process innovation as vital ways to build a modern, specialized cluster for processing tea products, with famous, high-quality green tea as the main product and congou, jasmine tea and Tibetan tea as supplements. In 2021, more than 90% of tea in the province went through clean processing. Besides, the production of famous, high-quality green tea topped 220,000 tons, with the output value of nearly 28 billion yuan.
    In terms of tea-tourism integration, Sichuan has mainly put effort into building tea gardens into scenic areas. Several tea-themed tourism routes of the province have been listed among national or provincial quality routes under this theme, which has led to a rapid increase in both visits and direct revenue.
    In market expansion, Sichuan has made great efforts in both China and foreign countries. In 2021, the province has held such tea promotion activities as the 10th China (Sichuan) International Tea Expo, 2021 Sichuan International Tea Day & Sichuan Famous Tea Festival, and Tianfu Bestea Quality Sichuan Tea Promotion Event in Beijing. The total export volume of Sichuan's tea exceeded 70,000 tons that year, with the amount of orders topping 2.1 billion yuan. At present, the province owns 45 registered bases of tea for export, covering an area of 36 square kilometers.