China's "new-style" tea drinks market — modern, ready-to-drink beverages built on a tea base — is projected to exceed 370 billion yuan (roughly $51 billion) in 2026, according to an estimate presented by the China Tea Marketing Association (CTMA) at the 2026 China New-Style Tea Drink Industry Development Conference, held July 17-19, 2026 in Raoping County, Guangdong Province.
At the event, eight local Raoping tea companies signed cooperation agreements with national beverage brands, covering raw material supply, custom research and development, and brand collaborations. The CTMA separately signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Raoping County to upgrade the region's supply chain. Raoping, the top tea-producing area in Chaozhou, farms roughly 180,000 mu (about 12,000 hectares) of tea gardens.
The figures underscore how quickly China's tea industry is evolving, as a traditional agricultural crop increasingly becomes a standardized ingredient feeding a fast-growing modern beverage sector.
Source: ecns.cn