Return to Former Higher Standard Needed to Compete on London Market: Closer Supervision of Product is interesting to examine the future prospects of the China tea industry. The lower priced China teas always react in value to the tone of the market for Indian, Ceylon and Dutch East Indies Teas, Since the beginning of the year, the markets for the latter class of tea has risen 2d per pound with the result that buyers are interesting themselves more in China teas for "makeweight" Purposes.
In January alone over 1,000,000 Ib. more China tea entered Great Britain than in the same month of 1936.
China burnt her fingers once when in 1034 she imported more tea Into the United Kingdom than the demand warranted, In that year 20,000,000 Ib. arrived in London as against normal amount of seven or eight millions. "Much of this 1994. stock yomaing unsold. A truer estimate of the position can' be ascertained when the import figures for the first three months of this year are published. It can then be fairly ae. Curately. gauged whether China intends to take advantage of the higher rice of tea. from other countries.
This. position of dependence on other markets Is extremely unsatis: factory from. the Chinese point of view. There is of course slways- 9 small regular demand for the good grades of China tea, such as Keemun. But the tendency here has been the: same as that in the lower grades, a marked falling off in quality. "One. has only to examine the Infused Teat of any" Keemun tea to note how irregular it is, and how the producers seem to "have mixed a proper tion of inferior leaf into their better. class teas,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.