This study analyzed the value chain structure of certified fairtrade tea from the perspective of governance using global value chain analysis. At the stages of tea leaf cultivation, manufacturing, and shipping, “Captive” and “Hierarchical” types of governance are prevalent, with exporters taking the lead. To comply with fairtrade standards, the versatility and bargaining power of exporters are indispensable for the tea plantations.

At the tea leaf procurement and product sales stages, a “Modular” type of governance is common, with Japan’s certified fairtrade operators acting as the controlling body. In addition, transactions are somewhat more complicated due to the inclusion of fairtrade standards. However, certified fairtrade operators conduct procurement, product processing, and sales based on actual needs.

The village of Yugan is located in Yugan County on the Poyang Lake Plain in Jiangxi Province, which has been designated by the Chinese government as the main grain producing area of the country. This paper traces the long-term changes in and clarifies the actual situation regarding the land lease relationship and the land rent determination method used in the village for the process of the rural labor transfer from the second half of the 1990s. This change was influenced by national changes in agricultural and rural policies. After 2004, the zero land rent stage, which was employed previously based on negotiations among farmers’ relatives and friends, ended with the abolition of agricultural taxes and the implementation of various subsidy systems and price support policies, and rent started being charged for farmland. As a result, disputes over farmland have increased due to farmland being lent to persons other than relatives and friends. Since 2006, the village has held meetings where all affected stakeholders decide how farmland is loaned and rented. As a result, the interests of the two sides have been adjusted around the requirements of the lender of agricultural land for rental income, and the borrower’s demand for securing agricultural land. However, the income from rice production decreased after 2015, likely because the current system attaches relatively more importance to the opinions of the majority of farmland lenders while ignoring the agricultural profitability of the leaseholders.