Yunnan Provincial China Tobacco Industry Corporation - the operator of the tobacco industry in southwest China's tobacco-producing Yunnan Province - held a symposium in the provincial capital city of Kunming on June 3 to discuss its strategy for developing big competitive cigarette brands of Yunnan and ways of promoting sustainable development of the provincial tobacco industry.
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The symposium was intended to further promote and realize cooperation between manufacturing and commercial enterprises of the provincial tobacco industry, in accordance with the central task of "promoting cigarette production and marketing to a higher level" designated by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), with the target of jointly developing "big enterprises, big brands and big markets".
In an address to the meeting, Deputy Governor Cao Jianfang of Yunnan Province fully affirmed the pivotal role of the tobacco industry of Yunnan in promoting local economic development of the province, saying that the holding of the symposium is yet another opportunity for promoting sustainable development of the provincial tobacco industry to a higher level.
He expressed the hope that the holding of the meeting will contribute to pooling together the wisdom and forces of all the parties concerned for making proposals for the development of big competitive cigarette brands of Yunnan, developing new advantages of cigarette products of Yunnan, and realizing new development of cigarette brands of Yunnan, in order that the provincial tobacco industry will be able to make new contribution to the economic development of the province.
In a separate address to the symposium, Deputy Director-General He Zehua of the STMA said that the tobacco industry of Yunnan is a leading force for promoting "cigarette production and marketing to a higher level", and that the development of the tobacco industry of Yunnan is of vital importance to the overall development of the national tobacco industry.
Judged by data available for the first five months of 2010, the aggregate sales of the existing four big competitive cigarette brands of Yunnan - Mount Hongtashan, Yunyan, Yuxi and Honghe - were higher than the sales of other Chinese cigarette brands in the same period, showing a robust trend of development. Such a favorable trend of development makes the tobacco industry more confident in "promoting cigarette production and marketing to a higher level". This development does not only concerns the provincial tobacco industry of Yunnan, but also contributes to revealing a favorable trend of development of the whole tobacco industry of China, and generating powerful impacts on the structure of cigarette brands in future, according to He.
He said that the core of the policy of "promoting cigarette production and marketing to a higher level" is the development of brands, with marketing being the essential, focal and difficult part of it. Therefore, "promoting marketing to a higher level" is the key to "promoting cigarette production and marketing to a higher level". How to enable the manufacturing and commercial sectors of the tobacco industry to better coordinate with each other in jointly developing "big enterprises, big brands and big markets" is a question that both the manufacturing and commercial sectors of the tobacco industry need to earnestly study and consider, according to He.
The deputy director-general of the STMA once again emphasized in his address that the development of big competitive cigarette brands of Yunnan is a result of coordination between the manufacturing and commercial sectors of the tobacco industry.
STMA Director-General Jiang Chengkang has put forward a requirement to the tobacco industry of Yunnan that "high-grade brands should be influential and be at an advantageous position; medium-grade brands should all strive to become the No. 1 and be at a leading position; and new breakthrough should be made in going on international markets, and the work to this effect should be at a leading position." This requirement is not only for future development of the tobacco industry of Yunnan, but is also, more significantly, for coordination between the manufacturing and commercial sectors of the provincial tobacco industry, He noted.
Deputy General Manager Zhu Shaoming of Yunnan Provincial China Tobacco Industry Corporation delivered a keynote speech at the symposium, saying that the tobacco industry of Yunnan now faces the problems that its cigarette brands are not highly competitive, that there are too many cigarette brands and specifications, that the management of enterprises is not at a high level, that there is insufficiency of resources of brands, that unified planning of resources has not played a maximum role, etc.
In light of the STMA's policy of "promoting cigarette production and marketing to a higher level" and its "532" and "461" brands development plans, Yunnan Provincial China Tobacco Industry Corporation will, with realization of the 5331" brands development plan as a target, correctly handle the relationship between the development of high-grade brands, development of medium-grade brands and development of international markets, the relationship between efforts for ensuring the fulfillment of existing targets and striving for higher targets, the relationship between policy guidance and market targeting, the relationship between the development of big competitive brands and realization of a win-win situation for both manufacturing and commercial enterprises in striving for common business development, and the relationship between interaction among different tobacco manufacturing enterprises within the province. In doing so, Yunnan Provincial China Tobacco Industry Corporation will strive for greater business development by consolidating the basis for raw materials supply, realizing scientific-technological innovation, strengthening management, strengthening marketing, strengthening the development high-qualified human resources and coordinating the formulation of development plans, according to Zhu.
On coordination in operation between manufacturing and commercial enterprises, Zhu emphasized that Yunnan Provincial China Tobacco Industry Corporation will manage to further reform the structure of its existing brands, specifically define the status of all brands, jointly determine targets for the development of brands through coordination and communication with market areas, continue to practically and elaborately strengthen the work of marketing, better meet the demand of markets and provide better service for consumers at the marketplace.
Also speaking at the meeting, President Wu Yi of the HongyunHonghe Tobacco Group in Yunnan - the largest Chinese tobacco manufacturer - delivered an address titled Increasing Awareness, Focusing Energy on Development of Yunyan Cigarette Brand, Practically Realizing Promotion and Striving for Developing Big Competitive Cigarette Brands, objectively analyzing both the opportunities and challenges faced by HongyunHonghe in the development of brands, putting forward HongyunHonghe's plans for the development of brands, and specifying the targets for striving to develop big competitive cigarette brands.
Wu said that HongyunHonghe will, with the policy of "promoting cigarette production and marketing to a higher level" as a program of action, and with the development of its Yunyan and Honghe cigarette brands as a priority, further emancipate the mind, renew the way of thinking, give play to the effects of its competitive cigarette brands with approaches of reform, with an innovative way of thinking and with unified planning, make the unique characteristics of its brands more prominent, increase the value of its brands, create first-rate brands, acquire first-rate raw materials, develop first-rate technology, have first rate market and first-rate management, strengthen the development of human resources and a corporate culture, strive to strengthen the intrinsic motive forces within the tobacco group, and unswervingly embark on the path of development through capacity-building, in order to make greater contribution to the sound and rapid development of China's tobacco industry, and to the revival and prosperity of the local economy in Yunnan. Enditem
