Yunnan Zhongcha is the first national Chinese tea company established in 1938, formerly known as Yunnan Zhongguo Chaye Maoyi Gufen Gongsi (Yunnan China Leaf Trading company).
In 1951 they registered the Zhongcha 中茶 brand trademark.
In 1973 together with its subsidiary Kunming company and learning from Guangdong and Hong Kong tea artificial fermentation techniques. They started researching and developing cooked Puer Tea.
So you can imagine the importance of this company in Puer history. In the old days, it was the state-run company that managed all of the major tea factories in Yunnan like Xiaguan, Fengqing, Fuhai , etc.