- China’s coffee consumption has grown by 150% in the last 10 years
- Green coffee traders are racing towards this opportunity, trying to break into this promising market
- Imports from Brazil and Ethiopia are soaring – Brazilian coffee exports to China rose 186.1% year-on-year in 2023-24
China, with its rapidly increasing coffee consumption, sheer scale, and flexible buyer profile has caught the attention of coffee traders worldwide. They want to understand how to enter this emerging and still relatively unknown market.
Domestic consumption has reportedly been growing at more than 15% a year, over five times the International Coffee Organisation’s reported global average for 2023/24. China’s consumption has grown by almost 150% in the last 10 years, from just over 2 million bags in the early 2010s to over 6 million bags today.
Amid tariff tensions with the US, Chinese consumers are rallying behind homegrown brands, with Luckin Coffee rocketing past 22,000 stores, overtaking Starbucks. Shanghai alone boasts more coffee shops than any city on earth – with 9,115 coffee shops as of 2024 – surpassing London, Tokyo, and New York City.
As that thirst grows, green coffee traders are taking notice. For decades, exporters from Latin America and Africa viewed China as a niche buyer, one best courted through brand collaborations or ceremonial tastings. No longer. Today, Chinese importers are placing bulk orders, launching their own roasting operations, and scouting long-term supply deals.
“I see a Chinese market that is growing fast, in which the consumers are well educated and willing to spend on quality,” says Vicente Mejia, founder, trader, and Managing Director of Clearpath Coffee.
“Our importers from China are among the most professional and with highest quality standards and quality control protocols. In my experience, it’s a market with a growing demand for high quality varieties and complex coffees. It’s also a market where being competitive is key and buyers know the market well.”
Yet the Chinese market does not want the same coffee as Europe or America. Chinese buyers are prioritising origins with the strongest consumer appeal, particularly Panama, Ethiopia, and Colombia.
“In China, there are two different markets – the higher end specialty market, and the commercial market,” says Kenean Dukamo, Deputy CEO of Daye Bensa Coffee in Ethiopia. “The specialty companies are pursuing really good higher end coffees. The commercial buyers want to have a price competitive product with a decent quality.”
“My experience in terms of Chinese buyers’ preferences for the specialty coffee segment is flavour profiles like fruity mango, strawberry, and peach. They also like green tea notes. The blueberry or floral profiles so popular in the West aren’t in demand there. They tend to roast coffee very light. What I noticed in China is that coming from a tea culture, they seek a more tea-like experience from coffee.”
China has become the fifth largest importer of Ethiopian coffee. In the 2024/2025 fiscal year, Ethiopia exported over 34,000 tons of coffee to China, earning over $218 million. China’s zero-tariff policy has been a game-changer, making Ethiopian premium coffee more competitive and accessible to Chinese consumers and businesses.
The Ethiopian Ambassador to China Tefera Derbew Yimam reports that “the burgeoning coffee culture in China, especially among the youth, has found a perfect match in the diverse flavours of Ethiopian coffee – from the floral notes of Yirgacheffe to the fruity, wine-like tones of Harrar.”
Brazil, already the world’s largest coffee producer, has been quick to adapt. Its government and exporters have cultivated dedicated partnerships in China, with training initiatives and marketing campaigns in place. In the 2023-24 crop year, coffee exports from Brazil to China increased by 186.1% year-on-year.
One Brazilian trader reports that large producers have tended to take the lead in meeting Chinese demand, which seeks ”high volumes at low prices, with little attention currently given to socio-environmental factors relating to the product.”
Sustainability is not a buzzword in China
Beyond flavour, Chinese buyers want coffee that signals both virtue and pragmatism. Sustainability is prized – but understood differently than in the West.
China has eliminated import duties on coffee from 53 African countries. In contrast, the EU is tightening trade rules, which positions China as a more frictionless buyer for Africa.
European buyers often prioritise metrics like carbon reduction and deforestation risk, whereas Chinese importers typically tend to be less demanding. Certifications such as Rainforest Alliance or Fairtrade tend to hold less sway than tangible social impact through traceability and close producer relationships.
“It’s a market where exclusivity is important and the relationships are valued,” says Vicente. “Sustainability is not a key selling point.”
That doesn’t mean standards are absent: China’s own import rules set strict limits on pesticide use and require compliance with approved farming practices, placing emphasis on safety and responsible production rather than Western-led certification schemes.
“I feel like the Chinese market right now is more focused on education,” says Kenean. “When I go to trade shows there, people are taking notes and are very involved, asking many questions. There’s a hunger to understand the industry as fast and as deeply as possible.”
“Knowledge-building is what I identify as the key driver in China’s coffee sector right now. Collaboration, sustainability, and everything else will follow afterwards, in my opinion. The current market focus is knowledge and understanding to identify and acquire the best coffees they can on the market.”
Digitalisation and e-commerce play a powerful role. Platforms like Tmall and JD.com now host thousands of micro-roasters and direct-trade vendors. Influencers have become coffee’s unlikely ambassadors. Luckin is leaning into influencer and brand collaborations to help its products go viral in the US as much as it’s relying on the promotions that helped achieve success domestically. For exporters, that means storytelling and adaptability matter as much as quality control.
China’s own production is quietly booming too. Yunnan exported 32,500 tons of coffee in 2024, up 358 per cent year-on-year. The southwestern province is increasing coffee exports in 2025 as bean prices go up and orders come in from more than 30 countries.
Partners and politics
The geography of China’s coffee partnerships reflects a mix of strategy and geopolitics.
Brazil has emerged as a close ally to China in the coffee trade, leveraging BRICS ties and $94 billion of exports to China across all sectors. China has become a far more significant source of Brazilian imports in recent years, with volumes in 2024 nearly doubling compared with 2019, the last year before the pandemic.
Coffee sits modestly within that total, but Brazilian exporters now report record sales to China, up 186.1% year-on-year in 2023-24. The alignment is pragmatic: Brazil offers supply scale and price stability; China offers an expanding consumer base and growing processing capacity.
Ethiopia, meanwhile, benefits from China’s Belt and Road Initiative. New infrastructure – rail links from Addis Ababa to Djibouti financed by Chinese loans – has shortened shipping times and lowered costs.
Ethiopia’s long-standing reputation for flavour diversity and its legacy as the origin of arabica coffee align with Chinese demand for complex coffees with cachet, especially for boutique cafés in cities. The partnership extends beyond trade: the Ethiopian embassy plans to step up coffee promotion in China, starting with the launch of an Ethiopian Coffee Culture Festival later this year. It also led a pre-investment delegation to Ethiopia in October, where participants explored opportunities across sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, new energy, coffee, livestock, mining, culture, and tourism.
“I don’t have enough information about other origins, but I’ve observed that African origins, as well as Brazil, are bigger suppliers than Colombia or Central American countries right now,” says Vicente.
But geopolitics cuts both ways. US–China tensions have indirectly reshaped global coffee dynamics. Amid tariff tensions, Chinese consumers are rallying around homegrown brands. In response, Starbucks and other U.S. coffee brands are reevaluating their strategies in China, understanding the importance of not only competing on product quality but also engaging with the cultural sentiments of Chinese consumers. They are focusing on localisation efforts, introducing products tailored to Chinese tastes and expanding into lower-tier cities.
China’s coffee boom is less a fad than a structural shift. For producing countries and green traders, the opportunity is vast. Flavour profiles and price points may differ, but building relationships, knowledge, and strategies will pay off to access this rapidly scaling market.
Coffee Intelligence
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