China: STMA Chief Urges Full-Scale Promotion of Efforts for "Going Global"

Source from:  Tobacco.gov.cn 01/12/2015

Director-General Ling Chengxing of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) has recently urged the tobacco industry of China to exert full-scale efforts to promote "going global" by strengthening of development of cigarette exporting bases, doing a good job of corporate merger and acquisition, and well managing tobacco machinery development and production.

In presiding over an enlarged session of focal study organized by the Theoretical Study Center of the Communist Party leadership group at the STMA on January 4, Ling Chengxing, who is also the secretary of the Communist Party leadership group at the STMA and general manager of China National Tobacco Corporation, emphasized that the entire tobacco industry needs to exert full-scale efforts to promote and accelerate the pace in going on international markets.

The attendees of the session also included STMA Communist Party leadership group members and Deputy Director-Generals Li Keming, Yang Peisen and Zhao Hongshun; STMA Communist Party leadership group member and Communist Party Discipline Inspection Group chief Gao Lin; and STMA Communist Party leadership group member and Deputy Director-General Xu Wangying.

Ling Chengxing pointed out that the tobacco industry needs to correctly assess its remarkable achievements in developing international markets, and firmly establish the ambition of accelerating the pace in developing international markets.

Specifically, the tobacco industry needs to well seize opportunities, well choose projects, do all it can to exert full-scale efforts to promote and accelerate its pace in developing international markets, and make firm its ambition of catching up with the Top Three transnational tobacco giants, leading tobacco machinery manufacturers and large raw and support materials production groups.

Firstly, the tobacco industry needs to focus its energy on well managing capital construction, and keep promoting its operation of entities to higher levels. The five existing cigarette exporting bases of the tobacco industry of China shall sum up the successful experience of Tianze company, Brazil company and North America company in operating entities of leaf tobacco production and supply overseas, make painstaking efforts to start up businesses, gain a firm foothold, usher in a new situation of development, radiate to neighboring regions, have a greater say, enhance competitiveness and lead the development of the entire tobacco industry.

Secondly, the tobacco industry needs to focus its energy on doing a good job of corporate merger, acquisition and reorganization, and keep promoting its international capital operation to higher levels. In this respect, it needs to study and refer to the brand-new ideas of transnational tobacco giants and outstanding domestic enterprises on raising funds for corporate merger and acquisition, choosing targets of merger and acquisition, and focusing on regions of corporate merger and acquisition; promptly converting research reports into development plans, converting development plans into working schemes and converting working schemes into operation projects; courageously make exploration; and strive to realize breakthrough.

And thirdly, the tobacco industry needs to focus its energy on well managing tobacco machinery manufacturing, and keep promoting its import, digestion, absorption and re-innovation to higher levels. While conducting negotiations on business cooperation, it shall well manage technological transformation and upgrading, in striving to realize a historic great leap forward from backwardness of the tobacco machinery manufacturing sector of China's tobacco industry to equal competition with leading transnational tobacco machinery manufacturers.

At the session, Wang Yimin, deputy chief of the Systemic Reform Division of the STMA's Policy, Legislation and Systemic Reform Department, delivered an exclusive research report titled Analysis of Routes for International Merger and Acquisition by China's Tobacco Industry. Meanwhile, leaders of the STMA's Tobacco Economy Research Institute and Financial Management and Supervision Department (Audit Department), China Tobacco Machinery Group Co., Ltd., China Tobacco International Co., Ltd. and China Tobacco magazine respectively delivered exclusive speeches on the theory and practical operation of international merger and acquisition by China's tobacco industry. Enditem