Chinese investors have announced their intent to establish and invest in tea production factories in the country following agreements reached after President William Ruto visited the Asian nation. This follows Ruto's meeting with Fuzhou Benny Tea Industries Chairman Zhang Chaobin on Tuesday to discuss ways of increasing access of Kenyan tea to the Chinese market.
During the meeting, the investor agreed to the plans of setting up tea factories in select tea-growing regions of the country to boost consumption of the Kenyan tea, which fetches about 180.57 billion (USD1.22 billion) in exports. ''Benny Tea Industries is looking at fulfilling their annual requirements of orthodox tea from the Kenyan market.
The chairman also committed to investing in modern orthodox tea production factories in selected tea-growing counties, as well as improving the value addition of Kenya's orthodox tea,'' State House shared in a statement. A Kenyan farmer picking tea from a farm in Kericho County.
Photo Ministry of Agriculture Kenya's export of tea to China is estimated at approximately Ksh528 million, with the main tea being orthodox. China has remained a key trading partner for Kenya.
