Tea connects China, Russia, Xi tells Putin

KAZAN, Russia — “Around 400 years ago, the Great Tea Road that connected the two countries went past Kazan, through which tea leaves from China’s Wuyi Mountain region found their way into many Russian households,” President Xi Jinping said to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Xi recalled the history in his meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the 2024 BRICS summit in Kazan, the fifth-largest city of Russia with historical and cultural significance.

Xi’s remarks highlighted the long-standing bond between China and Russia forged by the centuries-old tea trade. Several centuries ago, tea was introduced to Russia, quickly becoming popular and giving rise to a unique tea-drinking culture.

In the 18th century, Russians created the samovar, a distinctive device for brewing tea. Today, enjoying tea alongside snacks and desserts is still a cherished social activity in Russia.

In the mid-19th century, Russian traders flocked to Yangloudong in central China to establish mills for processing brick tea. They eventually relocated to Hankou, where they harnessed steam engines and hydraulic presses to produce brick tea tailored for the Russian market.

This shift significantly boosted tea exports through Hankou, a port in Central China’s Hubei province, which accounted for over 60 percent of China’s total tea exports by the end of the 19th century.

Scattered across Hankou district, Wuhan city, are sculptures and Russian-style architecture built by former tea traders, which have borne witness to the once flourishing tea trade.

Chinese tea has had a huge impact on the Russian way of life and its culture, partly replacing kvass, beer and home-brewed alcohol, and the custom of tea drinking is now deeply ingrained in Russian culture, said Sergey Kalashnikov, chairman of the Russian Association for International Cooperation.

Centuries on, the bond between China and Russia has gone far beyond the scope of tea: two-way trade exceeded $240 billion in 2023 and robust people-to-people exchanges have been burgeoning.