Downton Abbey boosts UK tea in China

A growing taste for meat, dairy, beer and "afternoon tea" products among Chinese consumers contributed to a 51 percent increase in British food and drink exports to China in 2016, making it the United Kingdom's fastest growing market.

The UK exported 439.5 million pounds ($546.6 million) of food and drink goods to China last year, the fastest growth in exports to China in a decade, according to the UK's Food and Drink Federation. Total UK exports of food and drink grew by 10.5 percent to reach a record 20 billion pounds.

Ian Wright, director-general of the FDF, said there was a much greater potential in China for British food and drink exports. He said: "Our target is to grow branded exports by a third by 2020 to more than 6 billion pounds."