Provincial Tobacco Industry Significantly Reduces Existing Cigarette Brands

Source from:  dzwww.com 02/27/2007

The tobacco industry of east China's Shandong Province is taking steps to significantly reduce the number of its existing cigarette brands in implementation of a structural reform policy of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) - the regulator of China's tobacco industry. Previously, the tobacco industry of Shandong was in possession of more than a dozen cigarette brands. As a result of structural reform over the past few years, the provincial tobacco industry has decided to phase out a number of cigarette brands, including the Green Peony, Qingzhou, Hongxibao (the Red Tin Packet) and Kongfu (the Confucian Mansion), after ceasing the production of Daji (the Big Chicken) in November 2006. In a future period of time, the tobacco industry of Shandong will maintain only five cigarette brands - Hademen, the General, Yizhibi (One Pen), Mount Tai and Baxi. Meanwhile, in accordance with the unified planning of the STMA, the tobacco industry of Shandong will start the production of a low-priced cigarette brand - the Bumper Harvest - to meet the growing demand of low-grade cigarette consumers. Since China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, the tobacco industry of China has been undergoing a fundamental structural reform intended to greatly enhance its ability to compete with foreign rivals. The reform is mainly characterized with corporate shutdown, acquisition, merger, association and reorganization as well as rapid reduction of the existing number of cigarette brands. Enditem