Cigarette Brand Rated as Well-Known Chinese Brand

Source from:  Wuhan Tobacco Group 06/29/2005

Hongjinlong (The Red Golden Dragon) - a competitive cigarette brand of Wuhan Tobacco Group in central China's Hubei Province - has recently been rated in an appraisal organized by the Trademark Bureau of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce as a well-known Chinese brand. In the recent biennial appraisal of most successful brands of Chinese goods, Hongjinlong was the only cigarette brand among a total of 64 brands awarded the title of well-known Chinese brands. In China, once a brand is rated as a well-known one, it will become eligible to enjoy the preferential treatment of monopolistic protection in the whole of its category, excluding any other manufacturer or trader from making a share. Besides, owners of well-known Chinese brands are permitted to use the names of their well-known brands in their corporate names, which will contribute to effectively preventing any attempt to share the reputation of well-known brands and significantly promoting the image of the enterprises and their products concerned. The birth of Wuhan Tobacco Group can be traced back to the establishment of a subsidiary in Hankou - one of the three towns making Wuhan City - by Nanyang Tobacco Brothers Co., Ltd. in 1916. Wuhan Tobacco Group has since covered a course of development of over 80 years. As a leading brand of Wuhan Tobacco Group developed 89 years ago, Hongjinlong is a fastest growing cigarette brand of China's tobacco industry. According to data revealed in a report on the economic operation of China's tobacco industry released by the Tobacco Economy Research Institute of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) for 2005, the average growth index of Hongjinlong in 2002-2004 stood at 145.27, the highest for all the 36 key Chinese cigarette brands designated by the STMA. In 2001, Hongjinlong ranked among the 36 key Chinese cigarette brands. In 2004, the increment in the sales volume of Hongjinlong was the highest for all the 36 key Chinese cigarette brands. According to sales in the first half of 2005 and orders for delivery in the second half of the year, the sales volume of Hongjinlong in the whole 2005 is expected to top 1 million cases (50 billion cigarettes). Enditem