JOHANNESBURG - Breaking into Chinese tea market would bring about major economic changes for South Africa.
That’s according to Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel, who says the tea trade between South Africa, and the rest of the world is valued at roughly R1-billion.
China has announced a substantial reduction in tariffs on imports of Rooibos tea, and it's hoped exports to that country will match those of South Africa's biggest tea market, Japan.
"We already sell something of the order of R400-million worth of tea globally and the tea market is big. We buy R600-million worth of tea and Rooibos is a great product and we see its beginning to take off around the world," says Patel.
"China is the world’s biggest market so if we can grow there we can create jobs back home. China’s just making it in SA’s list of top 10 countries we sell rooibos to. The trade between SA and the rest of the world is worth about R1-billion… we buy more than we sell," he says
"The biggest market for SA tea is Japan followed by Germany, the US and the UK".