Siliguri, Aug. 30: A three-member team from China Tea Marketing Association will arrive here tomorrow to explore possibilities of export and import of tea.

After its arrival, the team will head straight to Darjeeling to visit tea gardens and meet a brokering firm there. On Sunday, the north Bengal zonal office of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will host an interactive session with the delegation. Bengal urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya will be present at the meet.

The Chinese team comprises Zhan Litan, the vice-chairman of the association, its information director Zhu Zhonghai and Ngai (Vincent) Wonsung, the chairman of Hongkong Tea Company. “The team will reach Delhi from Sri Lanka today. On September 2, it will leave for Calcutta to meet tea board officials there,” said Rajiv Lochan, a tea trader who is co-ordinating the team’s movement in India.

During the team’s stay, CII will try to explore possibilities of exporting black Darjeeling tea to China which of late is becoming popular there.

This is the second Chinese delegation coming to the region. In 2005, another team had come to invite local traders to participate in the China Tea Expo.

At that time the Chinese had said they wanted to set up a consortium of tea-exporting countries, comprising India, Kenya, Sri Lanka and China.