Tea Entrepreneur Xu Yu Yan Brews Prosperity for Ch...

Tea Entrepreneur Xu Yu Yan Brews Prosperity for China’s Malipo County

Monica Cheru-Managing Editor

Malipo County-For Xu Yu Yan, prosperity is not just about fulfilling individual ambition but a duty to carry others along with her as she rises.

“Developing our industry is my responsibility,” says the tea entrepreneur who has grown a tiny operation in a remote part of China to a nationally recognized premium brand that is now making its mark internationally.

After graduating from college 14 years ago, Xu had to face up to the reality that she could not land the dream job that assures one entry into a yuppie lifestyle that every young person dreams of.

She decided to create her own fate and ended up in Malipo working with a local cooperative. Buying used equipment after pooling all their resources and borrowing from friends and relatives, the operation was barely crawling along.

“We formed strong emotional bonds with what we were doing,” Xu says.

The mountainous Yunnan province, bordering Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos, is home to almost half of China’s ethnic minorities. Malipo has eight ethnic groups, making up just over 40% of its population.

At that time, Malipo was a designated impoverished county, and it was a struggle to run an enterprise.

“Tea prices were low, and our profits were very small,” Xu recalls.

Malipo was one of the targeted areas in China’s famed poverty alleviation programs.

“With the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, things began to change. We were able to access funding and technical assistance from local and foreign experts,” says Xu.

The small operation grew as the Foreign Affairs Ministry leveraged its formidable networks of embassies, Chinese nationals abroad, and their international connections to push the Laoshan tea brands. From five acres, they are cultivating 300 acres of tea and have the best modern equipment for production, harvesting, and packaging.

The comprehensive support package also includes the development of markets.

**Xu Yu Yan explains different teas to foreign journalists as they are hosted to a tea ceremony at her stall during the Third Laoshan International Tea Festival**

The ongoing Third Laoshan International Tea Festival is one such platform, with foreign and local media invited to tour the county.

Xu was in Beijing for the second edition of the festival and got the pleasure of brewing her special tea for UN Women representatives and international journalists.

Malipo County officially lost the “impoverished” tag in 2020. An international journalist who toured the county 20 years ago says that the change is astounding.

With China now moving beyond poverty eradication to rural revitalization, Xu and the other 233,000 residents of the county can look forward to continued growth and are ready to play their part in building their shared prosperity.

“We continue to learn and improve our manufacturing process,” says Xu.

She stresses the importance of continued support from the government and other partners.

The Malipo County government and party structures have a robust monitoring mechanism and various targeted interventions to ensure that those lifted out of poverty do not slide back.