Tobacco Industry to Redefine Chinese-Style Cigarettes

06/06/2005

[img border=0 hspace="4" vspace="4" align="left" src=http://www.tobaccochina.com/english/picture/050606.jpg] The tobacco industry of China is expected to redefine Chinese-style cigarettes in an elaborate way by the end of 2005, to facilitate the development of highly competitive cigarette products with distinctive Chinese characteristics in competition with transnational tobacco giants following China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. "The standards for Chinese-style cigarettes will be renewed on the basis of the existing relevant standards of the State, and the new standards may be set by the end of the year," Xu Dan, a spokesperson with the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), told reporters in Beijing recently. According to well-informed sources with the tobacco industry of China, the new standards for Chinese-style cigarettes will cover the cigarette-making technology, content of tar and blending formulas for Chinese-style cigarettes, in order to redefine Chinese-style cigarettes in an elaborate way. Wang Xiaohui, a source with the Technology Center of Hongta Group – the largest Chinese tobacco manufacturer – said, "The new standards will provide for the flue-cured tobacco status and direction of Chinese-style cigarettes, and Chinese tobacco manufacturers will develop Chinese-style cigarettes in an more active way, in order to better compete against foreign rivals." [b]DEFINITION OF CHINESE-STYLE CIGARETTES[/b] In 2003, the tobacco industry of China defined Chinese-style cigarettes as cigarette products with distinctive characteristics of aroma and flavor manufactured with core technologies possessed by China's tobacco industry that are capable of meeting the current and potential demand of Chinese cigarette consumers, mainly including Chinese-style flue-cured-type and Chinese-style blend-type cigarettes, with Chinese-style flue-cured-type cigarettes taking the dominant position. But this definition falls short of providing for specific technologies for producing Chinese-style cigarettes, and Chinese tobacco manufacturers have been exploring technologies for making Chinese-style cigarettes in their own ways. In developing Chinese-style cigarettes, Chinese tobacco manufacturers have all adhered to their own concepts, and made judgments by their own standards. Therefore, all are using different leaf tobacco in producing Chinese-style cigarettes with different levels of flavorings and aromas. The conception of Chinese-style cigarette production technology of the State so far is different from the conception of cigarette production technology of Britain, America and other countries, according to Wang Xiaohui. He said that a system of technology with distinctive characteristics is a quality assessment system that emphases all processes, including assessment of the aesthetic quality, and also a system of systematic processing technology. In the past, all types of leaf tobacco were processed with the same technology, but in producing Chinese-style cigarettes, leaf tobacco is graded and processed with different technology in an intensive way instead of extensive way, according to him. [b]STRENGTHENING OF COMPETITIVENESS AGAINST FOREIGN RIVALS[/b] The development of Chinese-style cigarettes is intended to develop cigarette products with distinctive Chinese characteristics that are fundamentally different from foreign tobacco products. Only by setting standards for Chinese-style cigarettes to enable China's cigarette products to technically take a dominant position in competition at the domestic market and enable the tobacco industry of China to successfully erect technical barriers in competition, can it well compete against foreign rivals. "Since the STMA proposed the strategy to greatly develop Chinese-style cigarettes, what appears to be the greatest success of China's tobacco industry through development over the past few years has been its capability to counter impacts of foreign tobacco products on the domestic market. So far, foreign cigarettes have not posed too serious a threat to the tobacco industry of China, because massive development of Chinese-style cigarettes has well met the demand of Chinese consumers for flavor. The setting of new standards will contribute to better regulating the development of Chinese-style cigarettes," Wang Xiaohui said. The setting of new standards for Chinese-style cigarettes will not only enable the tobacco industry of China to defend itself against massive entry of foreign tobacco products into the domestic markets, but will also contribute to stimulating the export of tobacco products. The greatest characteristics of Chinese-style cigarettes are their high content of aroma and low content of tar and other harmful substances. Presently, cigarettes traded on international markets generally have a tar level of 10mg/per cigarette. For the tobacco industry of China, its annual cigarette exports account for only 1 percent to 2 percent of the total output. Besides, consumers in other countries or regions of cigarettes made in China are mostly Chinese. Therefore, if it wishes to increase exports, the tobacco industry first of all has to manage to satisfy the flavor of foreign consumers. Since July 1, 2004, China has banned the production and sale of cigarettes with a tar level of 15mg/per cigarette or higher. Presently, cigarettes produced by the tobacco industry of China have an average tar level of 13.6mg-13.7mg/per cigarette. In 2005, China will apply a more stringent standard of 12mg/per cigarette. [b]USE OF MEDICINAL HERBS IN CIGARETTE PRODUCTION[/b] According to the strategy of the STMA for greatly developing Chinese-style cigarettes, the tobacco industry of China should possess exclusively owned technology for producing Chinese-style cigarettes, including the technology of using extracts from medicinal herbs for making cigarettes. So far, some big tobacco manufacturers based in south China's Guangzhou City, south central China's Hunan Province and other regions have used extracts of medicinal herbs for producing "reduced-harm" cigarettes, which are well received by consumers. Speaking to reporters, Wei Hongwen, director of the general office of Kunming Cigarette Factory in southwest China Yunnan Province, said that a development strategy of Kunming Cigarette Factory is to develop its own technology for producing Chinese-style cigarettes under the framework of "green tobacco" development technology, using distinctive raw materials and distinctive blending formulas, in order to produce cigarettes with distinctive characteristics. Presently, Kunming Cigarette Factory is strengthening the research and development of technology in such fields as raw materials, formulas and processing. While actively developing "green tobacco" products, Kunming Cigarette Factory is attaching great importance to maintaining the original flavor and characteristics of its famous Yunyan brand cigarettes in striving to meet the demand of both consumers and markets in the maximum. Besides Kunming Cigarette Factory, a majority of other Chinese tobacco manufacturers have plans for developing "green tobacco" products. For example, Nanchang Genera Cigarette Factory in south central China's Jiangxi Province started the application of theories of traditional Chinese medicine in producing cigarettes with extracts of medicinal herbs, succeeding in developing "reduced harm" cigarettes. So far, Nanchang General Cigarette Factory has established a base for the research and development of technology for producing Chinese-style cigarettes with a lower content of harmful substances. The factory's most successful approach in this respect so far is to add extracts from medicinal herbs to high-quality leaf tobacco in producing "reduced harm" cigarettes, in an effort to reduce stimulation and damage of cigarette smoking to the human body. Presently, Nanchang General Cigarette Factory is stepping up efforts to develop "reduced-harm green tobacco" products. "Because of increase of public awareness about the harm of cigarette smoking, many consumers demand the supply of health, harmless or reduced harm tobacco products. Therefore, the production of green tobacco products has become a magic weapon for Chinese tobacco manufacturers to maintain a difference in operation and win competition at the marketplace. It is also an effective approach for the tobacco industry of China to maneuver to meet the requirement of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control," said Guo Song with the Department of Technology of Honghe Cigarette Factory in southwest China's Yunnan Province. According to Guo, Honghe Cigarette Factory uses high-quality filter paper with high permeability and filterability for producing high-grade cigarettes, contributing to significantly increasing filterability of the filter tip and significantly lowering the level of tar that can be inhaled into the human body. Besides, Honghe Cigarette Factory uses environment-friendly materials for making the packaging of its cigarette products. [b]MARKETABILITY OF GREEN TOBACCO PRODUCTS IN CHINA[/b] For Chinese tobacco manufacturers, the development of "reduced harm" tobacco products has very high demand on technology. As the costs of developing and producing green, "reduced harm" cigarettes remain high, and as green, "reduced harm" cigarettes are all high-grade products, they are sold at relatively high prices on the domestic market. Therefore, most consumers, particularly low-income earners and consumers in medium- and small cities and rural areas, are still willing to buy general cigarettes. Meanwhile, as a result of longtime consuming habit, Chinese smokers more favor flue-cured-type cigarettes with a relatively high level of tar, and are less enthusiastic to blend-type cigarettes. "The only way out for the tobacco industry is to develop green tobacco products. By nature, tobacco can never be a health product. Therefore, what the tobacco industry can do is to gradually reduce its harm to the human body, which can never be absolutely eliminated. The development of green tobacco products to some extent is a means for marketing only, which is intended to increase marketability," said Guo Song. [b]KEYWORDS: GREEN TOBACCO[/b] Presently, the tobacco industry of China seems to have a well-defined concept on the so-called green tobacco: The processes of tobacco growing, research and development, designing, manufacture, marketing and environment development are all covered by the concept of "green". In the process of growing, less pesticides and fertilizers are used to reduce the content of heavy metal and harmful substances in every leaf. In research and development, advanced technology is applied to reduce the content of tar and carbon monoxide, in order to increase the safety of cigarette smoking. In the process of manufacture, steps are taken to reduce the waste of resources, and the technological process and operation are strictly controlled like that in food production, in order to protect the environment. In marketing, the potential and practical demand of consumers is greatly concerned about. In the development of the environment, attention is paid to establishing a harmonious interpersonal relationship. Enditem