“China’s huge consumer base will drive the shift of the global coffee industry’s centre of gravity towards Asia and China,” remarked Zhang Hong, President of the Asian Coffee Association, at the 2026 Hainan International Coffee Expo held in Haikou. He believes that Hainan Free Trade Port, with its unique geographic location, open policy framework and rich coffee‑culture heritage, has the potential to “evolve into an Oriental coffee hub radiating across Asia and linking the world.”

According to Zhang Hong, Asia is home to nearly 60 percent of the world’s population, and its coffee consumption growth rate is four to five times higher than that of other regions. He previously noted that China’s end‑consumer coffee market has exceeded RMB 200 billion in annual consumption value, expanding at roughly 20 % per annum — around ten times the global average growth rate. This robust compound annual growth rate is expected to persist for at least another five to ten years.

This outlook is corroborated by trade statistics from major coffee‑bean exporting nations.

Ethiopia, the birthplace of Arabica coffee, saw China climb from the seventh‑largest export destination two years ago to fifth place in the 2024‑25 fiscal year. By fiscal year 2025‑26, China had risen to become Ethiopia’s third‑biggest coffee export market, only behind Saudi Arabia and Germany. Coffee exports to China totalled 47,836 tonnes worth USD 347 million, representing year‑on‑year increases of approximately 40 % and 58 % respectively.

“The rise of coffee culture in China has brought abundant new opportunities for Ethiopia,” said Aziza Geleta, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Ethiopian Embassy in China. This enables better connections between Ethiopia’s coffee origins and China’s innovation, entrepreneurial drive and consumer tastes.

Colombia has also witnessed surging demand from the Chinese market. Oscar Plata, Commercial Counsellor at the Colombian Embassy in China, told China News Service that Colombia’s coffee exports to China have grown by about 105 % over the past four years.

“Coffee is Colombia’s most important agricultural product, so a large part of my work in China revolves around coffee,” Oscar Plata commented. Coffee can serve as a vital platform for bilateral cooperation between China and Colombia across agricultural research, climate‑resilient farming, technological innovation and other fields.

Currently, major entry points for global coffee entering China are concentrated in eastern ports such as Shanghai. Distinctive policies under the Hainan Free Trade Port are opening up an alternative gateway.

Starting in 2025, unroasted coffee and other categories have been added to the Hainan Free Trade Port zero‑tariff list for raw and auxiliary materials. Enterprises importing green coffee beans are exempt from import duties, import‑stage value‑added tax and consumption tax. Products whose processing value‑added reaches 30 % or more can enter mainland China via the “second‑line” customs boundary with zero import tariffs.

Oscar Plata told China News Service that one key objective of his attendance at the Hainan International Coffee Expo is to learn the specifics of these policies and identify new points of entry for Colombian coffee into the Chinese market.

Zhang Hong stated that the Asian Coffee Association plans to bring all its member organisations to set up operations in the Hainan Free Trade Port. Leveraging the special industrial policies, the association aims to build out the full coffee industrial chain and advance the sector’s long‑term development.

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