Indian tea companies are tapping into the emerging black tea market in China, as black tea consumption across the rest of the world declines.

Indian tea companies met with their Chinese counterparts at a tea symposium on Monday, one day before the opening of the 2006 Tea & Coffee World Cup Exhibition & Symposium in Shanghai.

As green tea consumption grows in the world market, demand for black tea has decreased, triggering pressure on Indian's tea exporters, whose tea is more than 90 percent black.

Indian tea export quantity dropped from 203.55 million kilograms in 2000 to 183.07 million kilograms in 2004, according to the Tea Board of India's Website.

Now Indian tea makers are looking to China. "We notice the growing demand for black tea in the Chinese market," said Basudeb Banerjee, chairman of Tea Board India.

"It seems that the premier section of tealeaves is very promising in China, as we see consumers are willing to pay very high prices for the product," said Mohan Chirimar, managing director of Raghunath Exports Pvt Ltd, which supplies black tea to the Starbucks Coffee chain.

The company is cooperating with a tea retailer based in Hangzhou.

A joint venture project to produce black-tea bags is currently under negotiation between an Indian tea company and a Chinese company, according to V. Prakash, Consul General of India in Shanghai.

The Chinese tealeaves market is worth 18 billion yuan (US$2.3 billion) while consumption potential is 10 times more. Currently, the market is dominated by green tea. Analysts say that of all tea beverages, black tea has the most potential, especially among young people.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)