China-South America Cigar Leaf Technology, Trade Symposium Held

Source from:  TobaccoChina Online 10/30/2012

A China-South America cigar leaf technology and trade symposium was held in Shifang City of southwest China's tobacco-producing Sichuan Province on October 24, with the participation of leaf tobacco and cigar experts from China, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, Cuba, the United States, Germany, Spain and other countries and regions.

The meeting was also attended by officials or representatives from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, China National Leaf Tobacco Corporation, China Tobacco International Co., Ltd., and cigar manufacturers in China, as well as representatives from tobacco manufacturing enterprises in Sichuan, Hainan, Zhejiang and Hubei Provinces and other regions.

In an address delivered at the meeting, Deputy General Manager Wu Gang of China Tobacco Chuanyu Industrial Co., Ltd. – the operator of the tobacco industry in Sichuan Province and the neighboring Chongqing City – said that the current symposium was intended for discussions on knowledge and know-how about the growing, picking, processing, marketing, production management, etc of leaf tobacco for making cigars.

The holding of the symposium contributed to strengthening understanding by Chinese cigar makers of high-quality leaf tobacco production and quality control in Central and South America, making in-depth research of favors and choices by cigar consumers, and promoting sustained and healthy development of the cigar making sector of China's tobacco industry. Central and South America is the world's leading region for producing high-quality leaf tobacco for making cigars, while China is an emerging cigar consumption market.

Over recent years, along with continued development of the economy, China's cigar market has kept growing at an annual rate of 20 percent to 30 percent, and has emerged as an important growth pole in the world cigar market.

The holding of the symposium was intended to further strengthen understanding by the cigar making industry of the world of China's cigar market, and accelerate integration of China's cigar market into the global cigar market. During the symposium, the participants visited the joint workshops and hand-making workshops at the Great Wall Cigar Factory of China Tobacco Chuanyu Industrial Co., Ltd., to learn about the varieties of cigar products manufactured in China and the cigar making technologies and working processes there.

In efforts to develop Chinese-style cigar products, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration has made multiple policies in support, and a national cigar-making industrial chain has basically formed. Presently, there are four cigar making enterprises in China manufacturing cigar products of more than 10 brands. In particular, China Tobacco Chuanyu Industrial Co., Ltd. has been striving to build itself into the No. 1 cigar making base in China and develop the No. 1 cigar brand of China. So far, China Tobacco Chuanyu Industrial Co., Ltd. has succeeded in becoming the No. 1 cigar manufacturer in China, with its annual cigar sales volume ranking the biggest in China for consecutive years. It has formed three major serial cigar products – the Great Wall brand hand-made cigars, the Great Wall brand machine-made cigars and the Lion brand cigarette-type cigars. The cigar products of China Tobacco Chuanyu Industrial Co., Ltd. now cover all provincial-level markets in the Chinese Mainland and are exported to Europe and Southeast Asia. In 2012, cigar products of China Tobacco Chuanyu Industrial Co., Ltd., for the first time ever, went on markets in South America. In 2011, the sales volume reached 2.377 billion cigars. In 2012, the figure is expected to grow to 4 billion cigars.  Enditem