Abstract: By constructing an extended gravity equation model, using the 2001-2017 panel data, the influencing factors and trade potential of China tea exports to the countries along “the Belt and Road” were analyzed by the Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) approach. The results show that traditional variables as the economic scale and population of tea importing countries, China tea production, geographical distance between China and partners, common boarder and common language had significant impacts on China tea exports. The increase of tea production in China had an especially higher effect on tea exports to “the Belt and Road” regions. For China tea export potential, there were differences among the countries and regions along “the Belt and Road”．Among them, tea trades in some countries like ASEAN, South Asia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe were fully developed. While tea trades in Western Asia, North Africa and parts of Central and Eastern Europe were not fully developed. Finally, strategies including adjusting China tea export structure, China tea culture promotion, grasping the consumption dynamics in the target market and expanding China tea market in countries along “the Belt and Road” were proposed.

Key words: tea, the Belt and Road, gravity model, export potential