China Now Makes 70% of World's Matcha as Japan Hits Limits — SkimNews
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- Horii Shichimeien in Uji, Japan now sells premium matcha for nearly US$170 per tin — three to five times the price of five years ago — while its 80 stone mills grind just 40 grams of matcha per hour each.
- Japan's green tea exports hit a record 12,600 tonnes in 2025, up 43% year-on-year for a sixth straight record year, even as domestic tencha production roughly tripled over the past decade to top 6,200 tonnes.
- Gui Tea Group, China's largest matcha maker, sold more than 2,500 tonnes last year and exported to over 50 countries including Japan, according to deputy general manager Chen Xiaoming.
- China now accounts for about 70% of global matcha supply — more than 12,000 tonnes last year — with Tongren city in Guizhou alone producing roughly a fifth of that total and supporting more than 100,000 farmers.
- Guizhou province is targeting a US$1.5 billion matcha industry by 2030, with local equipment maker Guizhou Jinsanye selling processing machines at about 40% less than imported alternatives to help new regions enter the market.
- Shizuoka's sencha production fell more than 25% over the past decade — from over 49,000 tonnes in 2015 to about 36,500 tonnes in 2025 — as farmers like Ryutsu Service's Yoshiaki Hattori pivot to tencha, exporting 55 tonnes last year versus 35 the year before and already booking 100 tonnes in orders.
- Uji drew a record 6.2 million tourists in 2025, many drawn specifically by matcha, even as the city's tea industry faces an ageing workforce of mostly female leaf pickers with few successors.
Why it matters: The matcha boom is reshaping two of Asia's oldest tea economies in opposite directions: Japan's premium, tradition-bound producers are raising prices and capping exports while Chinese operations — backed by provincial subsidies and cheaper domestic equipment — capture the bulk of global beverage-grade volume. For consumers, that means Japan doubles down on ultra-premium positioning around places like Uji, while China absorbs the mass-market shortfall and even ships matcha back into Japan itself.
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