China: Sichuan Province Becomes National-Level Quality Tobacco Producing Region

Source from:  TobaccoChina Online 01/30/2011

Southwest China's Sichuan Province - the third largest tobacco-producing region in China - succeeded in basically turning itself into a national-level strategic high-quality leaf tobacco producing region with local characteristics in 2010, after improvement of production management and heavy investment in building infrastructure facilities for tobacco production. Data released recently by Sichuan Provincial Tobacco Office show that in 2010, the tobacco industry of Sichuan purchased 4.22 million dan (211,000 tons) of leaf tobacco, and Sichuan has remained as the third largest tobacco producing region in China for the third consecutive year, with the total income of tobacco growers in the province reaching 3 billion yuan (448 million U.S. dollars) in the year, or 24,000 yuan (3,582 U.S. dollars) per household. The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration - the regulator of China's tobacco industry - has fully affirmed the fine performance of the tobacco industry of Sichuan in the 2006-2010 five-year period, and has basically recognized Sichuan as a national-level strategic high-quality tobacco producing region in China. The year 2010 was a period of most intensive investment in the construction in Sichuan of infrastructure facilities for tobacco production, involving a largest number of projects to an unprecedented extent. In the year, the provincial tobacco industry invested some 1.5 billion yuan (223.9 million U.S. dollars) in completing the construction of 65,000 infrastructure projects, including the construction of 23,000 new support irrigation projects for tobacco production, covering more than 780,000 mu (52,000 hectares) of tobacco fields; the construction or transformation of more than 10,000 intensive curing barns; the construction of more than 1,000 kilometers of tractor roads; the purchase of 28,000 sets or units of farm machinery; and the construction of more than 3,000 greenhouses for developing tobacco seedlings. In 2010, the tobacco industry of Sichuan kept deepening the process of scientific-technological innovation, further improving the quality of its leaf tobacco products. In the year, Sichuan Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Administration, which doubles as the provincial tobacco company, cooperated with Shanghai Tobacco Group in jointly starting the research and development of high-quality leaf tobacco with local characteristics for the production of Chunghwa brand cigarettes in a number of areas in the province, including Liangshan, Panzhihua, Luzhou and Guangyuan. It also signed an agreement on technological cooperation with the Tobacco Research Board of Zimbabwe, opening up yet another path of international cooperation. In 2010, the up-to-standard rate of leaf tobacco of all grades purchased by the provincial tobacco topped 80 percent. The proportion of high-grade leaf tobacco purchased topped 44 percent while the proportion of orange-color leaf tobacco purchased reached newly 76 percent. Enditem