Chinese Tobacco Machinery Makes Debut at TABINFO 2005

Source from:  Special Report by TobaccoChina Online 11/18/2005

Chinese-manufactured tobacco machinery successfully made its debut at TABINFO 2005 held in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur on November 14-16, which was the largest Asian tobacco machinery show event with the participation of more some 240 exhibitors from around the world. At the three-day regional event, the show platform of China National Tobacco Machinery Group Co., Ltd. was the largest, the most eye-catching and also one of the busiest. The company's General Manager, Zhang Linhai and Deputy General Manager Wang Zhongqiang personally led a delegation to the event. TABINFO 2005 was a meeting platform for all members of the Asian tobacco industries including those of China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It served as a special platform for manufacturers to promote their machinery and services. Accompanying the event was a thought-provoking symposium. In an address to the symposium, Wang briefed the audience on the status quo and development of China's tobacco machinery industry. In accordance with the policy of the State on combining the development of technology with trade and on trading market for technology, the tobacco machinery industry of China has over recent years introduced from abroad and successfully absorbed 52 advanced tobacco machinery manufacturing technologies, and has developed a corresponding independent research and development capacity, Wang said. Through development of the past more than 20 years, the tobacco machinery industry of China has become capable of providing Chinese and foreign tobacco processing enterprises with a full range of technical equipment for all production processes including threshing and redrying, leaf tobacco cutting, cut tobacco expansion, strips production, cigarette making, packaging, filter tip formation, semi-finished products transportation and storage, cigarette case packing and sealing and automatic supply, Wang noted. Over the past more than 20 years, production equipment manufactured by the tobacco machinery industry of China has played a great role in the development of China's tobacco industry, supplying it with more than 3,000 sets of cigarette making equipment and more than 200 leaf tobacco cutting lines, according to Wang. He said that while ensuring supply to the domestic market, the tobacco machinery industry of China has managed to actively develop international markets over recent years, exporting more than 100 sets of equipment to more than 20 countries and regions. Wang expressed the hope of China's tobacco machinery industry to strengthen cooperation with its foreign counterparts. In statements made earlier, Zhang said that China National Tobacco Machinery Group Co., Ltd. has taken a dominant position at the domestic market, but can only earn some 10 million U.S. dollars in exports at international markets, out of its annual sales income of 1.8 billion yuan (220 million U.S. dollars). Therefore, the company still lags far behind those that export 90 percent of their products annually. In future, Zhang said, China National Tobacco Machinery Group Co., Ltd. will strengthen the research of applied technologies in manufacturing tobacco machinery. In doing so, it will not only establish closer relations with Chinese universities in research and development, but will also strengthen technological cooperation with foreign tobacco machinery companies in jointly exploring the establishment and organizational structure of technical centers, research and development, project management and the possibility of joint-venture development. To increase its competitiveness, China National Tobacco Machinery Group Co., Ltd. will simultaneously strengthen market development and technological progress while striving to enhancing its management and innovation capacity, Zhang said. He said participation in TABINFO 2005 was a first step taken by China National Tobacco Machinery Group Co., Ltd. to integrate itself into the international tobacco machinery industry. Also in statements made earlier, Director-General Jiang Chengkang of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration – the watchdog of China's tobacco industry – said that the development of China's tobacco industry must be based on the promotion of its own technical equipment. The capacity of the manufacturing industry is a major gage measuring the economic strength and the economic development foundation of nations. The development of the tobacco machinery industry is an important material basis and technical guarantee for the development of the whole tobacco industry. It specifically embodies the overall competitiveness of China's tobacco industry. The presence of China National Tobacco Machinery Group Co., Ltd. at TABINFO 2005 signifies that the tobacco machinery industry of China is taking steps to significantly strengthen its capacity and competitiveness. Enditem