China Tea (Zhongcha): Company, History & Tea Brands

Chinese Tea Brands & Companies

China Tea Co., Ltd., known as Zhongcha (中茶), is the tea company within the COFCO group whose business spans many of China’s best-known tea regions. Its official history begins in 1949. Today, the China Tea name sits alongside specialist brands such as Sea Dyke, Butterfly and Monkey King, covering everything from jasmine tea and oolong to pu-erh and Liubao tea.

For an overseas reader, one distinction makes the catalogue much easier to understand: China Tea is a company and brand name here, while Chinese tea describes the wider world of tea grown in China. This profile introduces the company, its brand family and the regional businesses behind the names on the package.

China Tea company at a glance

The company introduction presents an operation connecting tea resources, manufacturing, technical work and distribution. Beijing is the headquarters location; it is not the growing origin of every tea sold under the group’s brands.

From a national tea company to a family of brands

China Tea’s official account places its establishment in 1949, during the development of China’s national trade organizations. Its long involvement in tea exports helps explain why the brand is familiar to tea drinkers outside China as well as to shoppers in its domestic market.

In 1951, the company introduced the trademark often called “Hong Ba Zhong”: a green Chinese character for tea, 茶, surrounded by eight red 中 characters. The official core-brand page explains the design through the idea of Chinese tea reaching markets in every direction. It remains one of the easiest ways to recognize the brand.

These dates refer to different parts of the story. A brand’s founding year, a regional company’s establishment and a tea’s production year are separate facts; none should be substituted for the date on a particular product.

The China Tea brand family

The official category-brand page introduces Sea Dyke, Butterfly, Bai Nian Mu Cang and Monkey King. The company introduction also names Long Guan and the core China Tea brand. The table below is a practical map of that family.

A family relationship does not make the products interchangeable. A Butterfly white tea, a Sea Dyke oolong and a China Tea pu-erh cake call for different storage, brewing and buying decisions.

Regional businesses behind the teas

Xiamen: Sea Dyke, oolong and black tea

The Xiamen company profile describes Xiamen Tea Import & Export Co., Ltd. as a tea-brand operator focused on oolong and black tea. Its Sea Dyke identity is closely tied to Xiamen’s trading history and the sea wall that connected the island with the mainland.

Fujian: the Butterfly range

Fujian Tea Import & Export Co., Ltd. describes a range including oolong, jasmine, white, black, green and dark teas. Its profile connects the Butterfly brand with tea sourcing, processing, blending, testing and export business.

Yunnan: pu-erh and black tea

The Yunnan profile identifies Yunnan China Tea Co., Ltd. and discusses its predecessor’s role in pu-erh production, including historical red-, green- and blue-mark products. It also describes the development of ripe pu-erh processing. Those historical references explain the brand’s background; an old-style wrapper alone cannot establish a tea’s age or authenticity.

Guangxi: Wuzhou and Liubao tea

Wuzhou China Tea Co., Ltd. carries forward a regional business in Liubao tea production and export. Its profile distinguishes the present company’s establishment in 2007 from the earlier Wuzhou tea-export operation dating to the 1950s, and records a new processing plant entering operation in 2018.

Hunan: Anhua dark tea and warehouse heritage

The Anhua First Tea Factory profile links the site to a tea business established in 1902. Its wooden warehouses and industrial buildings form part of the story behind the Bai Nian Mu Cang range. The regional history is older than the 1949 China Tea company history, so the two timelines should be read separately.

Tea categories, production and research

COFCO’s China Tea introduction describes coverage of China’s six traditional tea categories—green, yellow, white, oolong, black and dark tea—alongside scented teas. The regional company pages make that broad description more useful by showing which businesses work with particular teas.

China Tea’s own introduction describes sourcing through company operations, suppliers and growers, together with processing, blending, product standards and technical research. It also discusses specifications for several tea categories and assessments of aged teas. A group-level description helps explain the business model; the growing area, ingredients and certification applicable to a purchase still belong to the individual product.

Published company and parent-group pages use different figures for gardens, factories and stores. This profile therefore maps the businesses and brands without treating undated totals as a current count.

Sales channels and what to check before buying

The official company introduction describes wholesale distribution, specialist stores, e-commerce and international business. Buyers can begin with the business directory and the relevant company’s official contacts to identify the right channel for a brand or tea category.

Check the exact producer, tea category, origin, production date, net weight and storage instructions. For pu-erh or other aged teas, ask for a clear production and storage history. For overseas orders, confirm delivery availability and import requirements with the seller; a national brand presence does not mean every sales channel ships internationally.

Official company contact

Common questions

Is Zhongcha the same as China Tea?

In this company context, yes. Zhongcha is the pinyin reading of 中茶, while the official English website uses China Tea. The broader phrase “Chinese tea” includes many unrelated producers and brands.

Does every China Tea product come from one factory?

No. The official business directory includes several regional companies and production operations. Read the producer named on the specific package.

Are all teas under the group one tea type?

No. The portfolio includes multiple tea types and regional brands. “Black tea” in English corresponds to hong cha (红茶); post-fermented hei cha (黑茶) is usually described as dark tea.

Sources and further reading

Prepared by Sandao from the official company, brand, regional-business and contact pages linked above, with the COFCO company introduction as a parent-group reference. Reviewed October 26, 2026. Images are credited to China Tea’s official website; the photographs are presented in the context given by their source pages.

Continue with Tea Knowledge, the Longjing tea guides, or the Chinese tea brand directory. This is Sandao’s independently prepared company profile.