A tea-picking robot demonstrates autonomous harvesting at Longwu Tea Garden in Hangzhou on May 21. [Photo/IC]

Zhejiang exported 1.42 billion yuan ($208.89 million) worth of tea in the first four months of this year, up 13.6 percent year-on-year and accounting for nearly 40 percent of China's total, according to Hangzhou Customs.

The province's long tea-making history has added cultural appeal to its exports. Jingshan tea, produced in the Jingshan area of Hangzhou's Yuhang district, is one of Zhejiang's 10 famous teas. The Jingshan Tea Banquet is part of "Traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China," which is inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Hangzhou Yinquan Tea Industry, a company based in Jingshan, exported tea to Peru this year. Through market research, Yinquan Tea Industry found that demand for healthy drinks is continuing to rise in Peru, said Lou Shulin, head of the company. From January to April, the company exported 7.69 million yuan worth of loose-leaf tea, more than three times the amount from the same period last year.