More than 30 percent of the tea sold in China's market fails to meet standards, the People's Daily reported on Monday, citing a survey by the State Quality and Quarantine Administration, the country's quality watchdog.

The survey, which covered 70 categories of tea produced by 54 enterprises, revealed that only 68.6 percent, or 48 categories, meet the required quality standards.

It showed that the quality of tea produced by name brand enterprises is stable and those produced by small privately-owned tea companies have quality problems, with some containing a high concentration of pesticides.

China, the homeland of tea, is believed to have used tea-shrubs as early as 6,000 years ago.

Tea drinking is a time-honored practice in China. An old Chinese saying runs: "The first seven things when a new day starts are fuel, rice, oil, salt, soya sauce, vinegar and tea."

Currently, China exports six categories of tea: green tea, black tea, Oolong tea, jasmine tea, white tea, and tightly-pressed tea lumps, and its export volume amounts to about 20 percent of the world total.

(Xinhua News Agency November 8, 2005)