Vietnam is the largest coffee supplier in China.

Wang Lei, deputy secretary general of the China-ASEAN Expo, said at the 9th China-ASEAN Expo held in Nanning, Guangxi on Saturday that Vietnam has become the largest overseas supplier of imported coffee from China, ChinaDaily reported. He said that China's imports mainly come from Southeast Asian countries, while Vietnam is the country that exports the most coffee to China.

Wang Lei said that customs statistics show that China imported 137000 tons of coffee from 2007 to 2011, worth 365 million US dollars. He said that with the increase in income and changes in lifestyle, Chinese demand for coffee is increasing year by year. In 2011, China imported 43000 tons of coffee, a sharp increase of 41.9 percent over the previous year.

Vietnam is a major supplier of imported coffee to China. Between 2007 and 2011, Vietnam exported 103900 tons of coffee to China, accounting for almost 90 per cent of China's total coffee imports in the same period.

In the first half of this year, Vietnam's coffee exports to China totaled 15000 tons, worth 3188 trillion US dollars, accounting for 96.2% of the total coffee exports from ASEAN countries to China.

Statistics from the China Coffee Association show that there are more than 13600 cafes and more than 2200 coffee-related enterprises in China, employing as many as 500000 people.

At present, China's annual coffee consumption is about 30000-40000 tons, with an annual growth rate of 10-15 per cent.