Integration of Tea Culture, Industry, and Technology and Establishment of Jian’ou Tea Industry Clusters

Following the “Integration of Tea Culture, Industry, and Technology” initiative, the tea industry in Jian’ou, Fujian has strived to reinvigorate and upgrade the business in the recent past through the development of industry clusters. This article analyzes the tasks Jian’ou has achieved as well as the problems it encountered in building industry clusters to arrive at some functional mechanism and operations as reference for the industry in other regions in the country. By integrating the three traditionally independent sectors of the business involving culture, manufacturing, and technology, the tea industry could benefit by expanding productivity and generating technical innovations to materially enrich the product competitiveness and profit margin. Moreover, through passing and transforming the treasured national cultural tradition, the entertainment and tourism activities could be symbiotically promoted. During the cluster-based development, invariably, Jian’ ou tea industry faced difficulties such as unexpected delays in tea garden construction, shortage of qualified leading business entities, insufficient venues for commercial brand building, and inadequate inter-industrial communication within the chain. To help overcome similar barriers, some practical strategies and measures were formulated and presented for our colleagues in other regions as they move forward on their path to bring about advancement for the nation’s tea industry.