Since 2002 when he took over as Party secretary of Huangdu village in Anji county of Zhejiang province, Sheng Awei has been spearheading efforts to improve the production of white tea grown in the area. In 2021, the total revenue of the village's collective economy was 2.495 million yuan ($373,000), and the annual per capita income of the villagers reached 64,000 yuan.

Sheng, who is also a delegate to the 15th Communist Party of China (CPC) Zhejiang Provincial Congress, believes that growing tea should enrich not only the lives of local residents but also those from other provinces.

Since October 2018, Sheng has sent 15 million tea seedlings to five counties in the three provinces of Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou to aid with their poverty alleviation efforts.

From 2008 to 2022, Sheng made 36 round trips spanning 200,000 kilometers to these counties to provide guidance for the cultivation of white tea.

In 2022，Sheng and the recipients of tea seedlings agreed to hold video consultations at regular intervals to solve problems that have arisen due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Sheng Awei (first from the right) checks the growth of tea seedlings in Zhongzhai town, Guizhou province. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

During the tea harvest season this year, more than 65,000 catties of fresh leaves were picked in the places where tea seedlings were donated, and more than 14,000 catties of dry tea worth over 7.7 million yuan were produced. A total of 6,661 people have benefited from this initiative, which has increased the per capita income by 1,162 yuan.

Over the next three years, authorities in Anji plan to donate another 30 million "White Leaf No. 1" tea seedlings and build 6.67 square kilometers of standard tea gardens.

"The planting area spanning 3.07 square kilometers has already been determined, and I will travel to recipient areas again to guide farmers," Sheng said.