Lifestyle

Last November, China and Morocco celebrated their mutual passion for tea by opening the exhibition Tea, a Shared Culture Between Morocco and China, at the Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah Museum in Essaouira.

This event, which runs until July 15, came in a year that marked the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. It was organized by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture and China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage in partnership with the Essaouira-Mogador Association and the China National Tea Museum.

In addition to presenting ceremonial aspects of the tea ritual, it also tells us everything about preparation and consumption customs in both countries. Visitors explore these themes through paintings, pictures, educational panels or archaeological and ethnographic objects. Although it might seem trivial, this initiative underlines the close cultural ties between China and Morocco as well as their willingness to establish an expanded bilateral cooperation, not only in the field of culture but also in other key areas such as trade and education.

A shared culture

Described by Lu Yu in his Cha Jing (The Classic of Tea) as a drink that “tempers the spirit and harmonizes the mind, dispels lassitude and relieves fatigue, awakens thought and prevents drowsiness, lightens and refreshes the body and clears the perceptive faculties,” tea plays a major role in the daily life of Chinese and Moroccan people. However, the two countries have their own history and traditions when it comes to this beverage.

In China, tea has an ancient history closely tied to beliefs and traditional practices whereas its introduction in Morocco dates back to the 18th century. The first real historical evidence of the use of tea in China goes back more than 3,000 years ago. Tea culture was then influenced by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. After long being considered a luxury product only affordable to Chinese elites, tea ended up being exported worldwide, and it is precisely through the port of Essaouira (formerly Mogador) that tea leaves brought from China were introduced to Morocco for the first time, under the reign of Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah. Thus, the choice of this city to host the exhibition makes perfect sense.

Three centuries later, in 2010, Morocco became the largest importer of Chinese green tea and the second largest consumer of tea in the world, after China. The plant is indeed used to prepare the famous Moroccan mint tea, a symbol of hospitality throughout the country.

In 2013, worldwide exports of Chinese tea reached 325,800 tons for a total production of 1.68 million tons. Among the six major families of Chinese tea - white tea, red tea, green tea, black tea, yellow tea, oolong tea - green tea is undoubtedly the flagship of the Chinese export market. According to the Blue Book of Tea Industry 2013 published by the Social Sciences Academic Press of China, it accounts for nearly 80 percent of the total exports of Chinese tea in the world. Besides, Morocco alone absorbs nearly 20 percent of the total exports of Chinese green tea, which represents several tens of thousands of tons each year. But tea is much more than a simple product that helps boosting Sino-Moroccan bilateral trade. In recent years, it has become a tool for promoting friendship between the two peoples.

The tea bridge for friendship

During the opening ceremony of the exhibition on November 25, 2013, Sun Shuzhong, Chinese Ambassador to Morocco, told the Moroccan News Agency that tea could serve as a bridge for friendship between the two countries. In fact, the joint organization of this exhibition is only the first step toward an extensive cooperation for the creation of a national tea museum in Essaouira. Indeed, in June 2012, the Chinese Government had already committed to supporting the Moroccan Ministry of Culture and Essaouira-Mogador Association in this project, especially by providing its expertise. China is so far the only country with a world-class national tea museum. The China National Tea Museum opened in 1991 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. It is now managed by the largest research center for tea in China. Consequently, China seemed to be the ideal partner for the project creating a national tea museum in Morocco.

The benefit for Morocco lies in the possibility of developing its national heritage with all the necessary resources. For China, this partnership is an opportunity to show its willingness to increase cooperation with a country that offers attractive investment and exchange opportunities in areas such as infrastructure and tourism.

Toward greater cooperation

The preface to the exhibition held in Essaouira states that “as a messenger of peace, tea will play an increasingly important role in the economic, political and cultural exchanges between China and Morocco.” The fact that 71 pieces from the China National Tea Museum of Hangzhou were sent to Morocco for this exhibition shows increasing signs of cultural cooperation, as does the visit of Moroccan tea specialists to China in the context of partnership for the construction of a tea museum in Essaouira. Besides, in December 2013, Sun Shuzhong called once again for increasing exchanges in the art and culture field.

Not only have mutual visits of artistic groups between the two countries grown steadily in recent years, but education is now a major element in bilateral cooperation as Morocco has two Confucius Institutes and 10 cities paired with Chinese partner cities. In addition, the Chinese-Moroccan Investment Forum organized on March 31, 2014, in Casablanca, highlighted a great potential for economic cooperation. Chinese companies have already been involved in coastal fisheries, plastic processing and construction of roads, ports and telecommunications facilities for several years in Morocco, and their interest in the banking sector and new technologies is growing rapidly.

According to Sun, Sino-Moroccan bilateral trade volume stood at 29.21 billion dirhams ($3.59 billion) in 2013, with Morocco’s exports to China representing 2.9 billion dirhams ($360 million), an increase of 20.9 percent compared to the previous year. Despite this upward trend, the figures show a major imbalance in trade between the two countries. Massive imports of Chinese green tea also contribute to the Moroccan trade deficit. Thus, beyond the process of enhanced cooperation, it seems necessary to adopt a trade rebalancing strategy to make this friendship even more durable and help establish a real win-win relationship. CA