The Tea Research Institute was found in 1993. Its former               institution was the Department of Tea Science of Zhejiang                  Agriculture University which was found in 1952. It has been      famous for expertise training and scientific research in the field of tea science since 1950s. It has accepted foreign students since 1957 and postgraduate students in Tea Science since 1961. Now it is one of the three institutions who offer doctorate degree in the discipline of tea science in China. 
    There are now about 40 doctorate and master degree students studying in the Institute, who come from Japan, Korea, France, Kenya and various parts of China. There are now 31 staffs in the Institute, among whom seven persons are professor and elevens associate professor. Furthermore, there are sixteen visiting professors who come from Japan, Korea, Russia, United States and various parts of China including Hong Kong and Taiwan. It has strong expertise in teaching and research in the field of tea science, especially in the research on tea plant genetics and breeding, anti-oxidants from tea plant, development of new tea products and tea related culture. The Institute has a good relationship with the important institutions of related studies all over the world, including National Research Institute of Tea Science of Japan, Shizuoka University of Japan, Tokyo Agriculture and Engineering University of Japan, Taegu University of Korea, Pusan Women University of Korea, Unilever Research and University of Glasgow of UK etc. The discipline of tea science of the Institute was awarded "The National Key Discipline" by The  Education Ministry of China in 1989 and 2002.