China's Tea Standard Goes Global: Anhui Agricultural University Leads the Charge

 

Good news has come from Anhui Agricultural University, where Professor Wan Xiaochun, director of the State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, has led the development of the international standard ISO 20715:2023 "Classification of Tea". The promulgation of this standard marks the official recognition of China's six major tea classification systems as an international consensus, and is a milestone achievement for China in the internationalization of tea standards.

According to reports, this international standard classifies tea into six categories based on its processing techniques and quality characteristics: black tea (traditional black tea, broken black tea, Keemun black tea, and Lapsang Souchong black tea), green tea (pan-fried green tea, baked green tea, sun-dried green tea, steamed green tea, broken green tea, and powdered green tea), yellow tea (bud type and bud-leaf type), white tea (bud type and bud-leaf type), oolong tea (semi-fermented tea), and dark tea (Pu-erh ripe tea and other dark teas). The standard also defines the technical terms of key tea processing procedures, such as shaping, withering, and fermentation, which are unique to China.