Tea farmers pick tea leaves on a mountain in Taishun county, Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, on March 25, 2026. [Photo/IC]

More than half of Zhejiang province's more than 200,000 hectares of productive tea gardens had entered harvest as of mid-March, as this year's spring tea season showed an early, stable, and high-quality start.

The province's spring tea picking began on Feb 14 in Yongjia county, Wenzhou. Since then, more than 120,000 hectares of tea gardens have started harvesting, and more than 1.5 million tea pickers have arrived for the season.

By March 10, tea harvesting had started across all cities in Zhejiang, about five days earlier than the average for a year ago. With relatively stable temperatures this year, spring tea quality has been particularly strong, according to local agricultural authorities.

Zhejiang is pushing high-quality development of its tea industry across four main segments: premium tea, tea drinks, matcha, and export tea.

The province is the world's largest producer of matcha. Last year, its matcha output reached 8,851 metric tons, with an output value of 1.1 billion yuan ($159.34 billion), accounting for more than 60 percent of China's total matcha production.

Zhejiang is also one of the country's leading tea leaf exporters. In 2025, the province ranked first nationwide in both export volume and export value of tea leaves.