HANGZHOU, May 21 (Xinhua) -- A series of activities were launched on Thursday to mark the first International Tea Day in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

The activities cover tea poverty alleviation initiatives, tea culture, tea experiences, tea consumption and tea tourism. Experts were invited to teach tea science and tea culture online.

Meanwhile, Internet giant Alibaba offered online training on tea-related entrepreneurial and employment skills. The company also arranged for the heads of 18 major tea producing poverty-stricken counties across China to sell local tea products via livestreaming.

The activities are being hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Zhejiang Provincial People's Government.

Han Changfu, minister of agriculture and rural affairs, said in a video message that China is the hometown of tea and birthplace of tea culture and the global tea industry has now been presented with a great development opportunity.

Zhejiang is a major tea growing region, with the total area of tea gardens in the province reaching 204,000 hectares and total tea output amounting to 190,000 tonnes in 2019.

Tea is one of the three major drinks in the world, produced in more than 60 countries and regions worldwide and enjoyed by over two billion people. In December 2019, the United Nations declared May 21 as International Tea Day to celebrate the economic, social and cultural value of tea and foster the sustainable development of global tea agriculture.