United Kingdom-based John Swire & Sons Ltd has set up its first refined tea processing plant in China in Sinan, a county in the mountainous Guizhou province, to cash in on the local advantages like a subtropical climate and clean air.

Finlays, a sub-affiliate of the London-based John Swire & Sons and a major beverage supplier, established the plant in Guizhou and it started operations in late October. Built with an investment of 120 million yuan ($17 million), the plant mainly produces black tea, green tea and white tea. By 2023, it plans to achieve an annual capacity of 20,000 metric tons of tea.

Finlays said it hopes to build a sustainable and flexible purchase and supply model in Guizhou, and build an ecological tea production and marketing chain from tea trees to tea cups.

"We are bullish on the growth prospects of ecological tea produced in Guizhou, so we have built a high-quality ecological tea garden and refined tea processing plant there," said Li Jian, public relations director of John Swire & Sons Ltd in China.

The tea produced in Guizhou, China's largest tea plantation area with a long tea planting history, will be transported to Chongqing, and then to Europe by railways, or it will be transported to the ports of East China, before being exported globally. Besides, tea planted there will also be sold to various cities domestically.

Currently, the tea is exported to the United States. Starting from next year, tea made in the plant will be exported to major markets of Finlays globally, including Germany, France, Morocco, Russia, and the US. The export volume is expected to reach 3,000 tons to 5,000 tons annually from the factory.

Currently, the factory has two production lines, and they each produce sliced tea and tea in sticks. The factory manufactures tea based on the requirement of Finlays.

After a few years of research, Finlays found Guizhou to be the best source for clean tea in China and subsequently set up a unit in Guizhou.

"Unlike the production and investment models in other countries, Finlays collects tea from its cooperative small-scale local farmers in Guizhou and then refines them at the factory. At other places, the tea comes from big management suppliers," Li said.

Finlays also provides tea plantation training, such as integrated pest management without applying pesticides, yield and cost management, and the use of smart mobile technologies for local farmers.

The tea produced locally will be packed with a quick response code, and consumers can scan the code to track the producers, natural environment of origin and the condition of the use of pesticides. The tea made in Guizhou can meet or exceed the standards of the European Union, Finlays said.

"The air quality in some areas of Guizhou can be 10 to 15 times cleaner than the clean air standard proposed by the World Health Organization," said Fu Chuanyao, president of the Guizhou Tea Culture Research Association.

Some other renowned retailers, such as Nongfu Spring and A.S. Watson Group, have also set up branches in Guizhou.

Dong Xianwu in Guiyang contributed to the story.