China Tea Co. began as 中国茶叶公司. Its founding was approved on 23 November 1949, with Wu Juenong (吴觉农), then vice-minister of agriculture, as first general manager. The approved 叶 was changed to 业 for the public name, so it traded as 中国茶业公司. The company calls itself the first national specialised corporation in the PRC trade system. In 1951 it adopted the '红八中' mark, a green 茶 ringed by red 中 characters, which it describes as New China's first tea trademark.
The official timeline gives these renamings: 中国茶叶出口公司 (1956); a merger with the native-produce exporter into 中国茶叶土产进出口公司 (1961); and a further merger with the animal by-products exporter into 中国土产畜产进出口总公司 (中土畜, 1970). The English initials of 中土畜 give the collector shorthand 'CNNP'. In 1985 the trade ministry approved 中国茶叶进出口公司 as a 中土畜 subsidiary managing the import/export business of 18 tea companies. On 23 November 2000 it was converted into 中国茶叶股份有限公司. In 2004 中土畜 was merged into COFCO as a wholly owned subsidiary. China Tea became one of COFCO's 18 specialised companies in 2014. It completed a mixed-ownership reform in 2017, when 45% was sold to five investors including Mitsui & Co. 中土畜 keeps 40% and COFCO is the actual controller. An IPO filed for the Shanghai main board in June 2020 was withdrawn, and the SSE ended its review on 21 March 2025. Pu'er made up more than 40% of 2021 sales.
In Yunnan, the Republican-era 云南中国茶叶贸易股份有限公司 (December 1938) set up the Fohai (Menghai), Fuxing (Kunming) and Kangzang (Xiaguan) factories. After a military takeover in March 1950, the provincial company became 中国茶业公司云南省公司 (September 1950). A provincial notice dated 19 July (1952 in Xiaguan's chronicle, 1953 in the CTMA history) put all factories in the system on the 中茶 brand. From then until the 1990s, Kunming, Menghai, Xiaguan and later Pu'er factory output was exported under the 中茶 label through the Yunnan tea branch, known in the 1970s as 中国土产畜产进出口总公司云南茶叶分公司. That branch shipped the first 10.2 t of ripe pu'er to Hong Kong in 1973.
In 1976 it fixed the pu'er mark numbers, whose last digit names the factory: 1 Kunming, 2 Menghai, 3 Xiaguan, 4 Pu'er. Menghai (大益, registered 1989) and Xiaguan (松鹤, 1992) later moved to their own trademarks. Kunming Tea Factory stopped production in the 1990s. COFCO's 中粮中茶 then opened 云南中茶茶业有限公司 in Kunming on 9 March 2008 and licensed it to use the 中茶 mark. Current 中茶 pu'er is sold under the Chinatea / 中茶 label, often without naming the pressing factory.
Outside Yunnan, the group owns or controls the Xiamen oolong brand 海堤 (中茶厦门), the Fujian brand 蝴蝶, the 猴王 jasmine brand, 百年木仓 Anhua dark tea and 龙冠 Longjing. The company's site lists 13 factories in six provinces.
