Substituting Imported Leaf

Source from:  tobaccoreporter.com China, Wednesday, April 4, 2007 04/09/2007

China is aiming to increase production of its import-substitute leaf tobacco to about 55,500 tons this year and, in the process, reduce its reliance on tobacco imported from Zimbabwe, according to a Tobacco China Online report quoting a number of local sources. At the end of last month, the China National Leaf Tobacco Corp (CNLTC) held a symposium in Kunming at which an [unnamed] deputy general manager of the CNLTC called on the manufacturing and commercial sectors of China's tobacco industry to join hands in promoting the production of high-quality leaf tobacco. The tobacco was needed, the official said, to guarantee that the industry could meet the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration target of developing more than a dozen key manufacturing enterprises and more than a dozen key competitive cigarette brands. The program of producing import-substitute leaf, which began in 2004, has so far involved 31 counties in nine provinces, and 17 tobacco manufacturing enterprises. The CNLTC official said that efforts would be made this year to develop four or more high-quality leaf tobacco production bases, concentrate the processing of import-substitute leaf, and reserve 12,500 tons of high-quality leaf tobacco for key competitive cigarette brands. Enditem