Green Gold: The Political Economy of China's Post-1949 Tea Industry

China's tea industry is the only agricultural sector in the country where large state farms outperform smaller farms. Ironically, some post-Mao reforms have damaged the industry's productivity. In exploring the reasons why this damage has occurred, this pioneering study is the only comprehensive description of the Chinese tea industry since 1949. Throughout their analysis, Dan Etherington and Keith Forster reveal the challenges and difficulties confronting China's semi-reformed economy as a whole. They look at the problems of administration and economies of scale in addition to the conflicts between the central and provincial governments that threaten the industry's future growth. A comprehensive discussion of the industry's institutional framework, production and processing techniques, and comparisons with tea industries in Taiwan and India make this book ideal for economists studying the tea industry and the performance of other agricultural sectors in China since 1949.