On October 15, 2026, a four-person expert team from the Yunnan Institute of Standardization (云南省标准化研究院) visited Xishuangbanna (西双版纳) to collect input for a possible revision of GB/T 22111—2008 Product of Geographical Indication – Pu'er Tea (《地理标志产品 普洱茶》), the national standard that defines pu'er in China. The Xishuangbanna Prefecture market regulation bureau reported the visit on October 16. It is part of a research project that is assessing standardization in the pu'er industry and whether revising the national standard is feasible.
What happened in Menghai
Market regulators from the prefecture and from Menghai County (勐海县) went with the team. The visit mixed round-table talks with factory visits. According to the bureau's report, the experts met technical and quality managers from representative Menghai pu'er producers, along with industry association leaders and standards staff. The report does not name the companies.
The talks covered:
- How the core clauses of GB/T 22111—2008 work in daily practice
- How the supporting pu'er standards are being built and used
- Problems where standards at different levels meet and overlap
- New standardization needs created by new technology and processing methods
- Producers' suggestions for revising the national standard
The team also walked through raw material control, processing and storage on the production floor, to see where the current standard is hard to apply. The bureau called Xishuangbanna a core protected area for pu'er and said the findings will feed into the research project and the revision work.
What the current standard covers
| Item | GB/T 22111—2008 |
|---|---|
| Issued / in force | Issued June 17, 2008; in force since December 1, 2008 |
| Status | Current. Its last official review, on August 4, 2025, concluded that it stays in effect. |
| Definition | Tea made from sun-dried green tea (晒青茶) of Yunnan large-leaf varieties (云南大叶种) grown inside the protected area, and processed inside that area with specific methods |
| Types | Raw pu'er (生茶) and ripe pu'er (熟茶) |
| Protected area | 639 townships in 75 counties, cities and districts across 11 prefectures and cities of Yunnan, including Pu'er, Lincang, Xishuangbanna and Baoshan |
| Storage | Describes pu'er as suitable for long-term storage, without a fixed number of years |
Why the standard is getting a fresh look
The standard is now 18 years old, and a lot has been built around it. The bureau's report does not say which clauses might change, but several recent developments sit in the background:
- Storage rules. A separate industry standard, the Specification for Pu'er Tea Storage (《普洱茶仓储规范》), passed its technical review in Hangzhou in January 2026.
- Shelf-life labeling. China's guide for setting food shelf life, GB/T 47141—2026, took effect on August 1, 2026. The revised labeling standard for prepackaged food, GB 7718—2025, takes effect on March 16, 2027 and asks for clear date marking. Chinese media noted in August that GB/T 22111 only says pu'er is suitable for long-term storage, and that sellers can no longer rely on that phrase alone.
- The national tea standards committee (SAC/TC339) discussed tea shelf-life labeling under the new rules at its meeting in Hangzhou on September 21, 2026.
What this means for pu'er drinkers
- Nothing changes today. GB/T 22111—2008 is still the standard in force.
- The definition matters. This standard sets what counts as pu'er in China: where the leaf grows, what raw material is used, and how raw and ripe teas are made. A revision could affect how origin, type and storage are written on labels.
- Read the label you have now. Look for raw or ripe, the production year and the origin. For keeping tea at home, a clean, dry, odor-free place away from light is still the simple rule.
Keep it in perspective
This is research, not a rewrite. No draft text, timeline or list of proposed changes has been published. A formal revision would still need approval as a national standard project, drafting, a public comment period and final release. The report also describes only one field visit, and does not name the companies involved. We will follow up if a draft for public comment appears.
If you would like to taste the two types the standard defines side by side, our tea samples are an easy place to start.
Source: Xishuangbanna Market Regulation (西双版纳市场监管), "省州联合开展普洱茶国家标准修订专题调研", October 16, 2026; National Public Service Platform for Standards Information, GB/T 22111-2008 record; SAC/TC339, review of the Pu'er Tea Storage Specification, January 27, 2026; Tide News, SAC/TC339 meeting, September 22, 2026; Sina Finance, August 7, 2026; ChemLinked on GB 7718-2025. Summary and plain-language interpretation by Chen Sheng Tea. Featured image: tea gardens near Xiding in Menghai County (an illustration, not the site of the visit), "Tea fields in front of Buddhist symbols" by Taco Witte, CC BY 2.0.
