Although China does not appear in the World Trade Analyzer chart as being one of the leaders in either importing or exporting of cigarettes, it is one of the major countries in the cigarette industry. In the 1990’s, China has produced more than twice the amount of the next cigarette producer, the United States. This huge amount of cigarette production is due to hundreds of millions of smokers in China, and also the great number of investments into Chinese cigarette factories and facilities in the 1980’s.
China has also by far the been the leading tobacco producer in the world
in the last five years, by producing 35 percent of the world’s tobacco.
In 1999, China produced 2,023,000 tons of the world’s 5,926,859 tons total
production. The next largest tobacco-producing country is India with
only one fourth of China’s production. China produces mainly flue-cured
tobacco, which in 1996 came up to 92 percent of the total production.
In the past years China has been trying to better the quality of its
tobacco. In order to do so the government has been investing money
into new stocks, improving the quality and usage of fertilizers, and adopting
more effective pest control measures. China is also trying to move production
away from the Yellow River area.
Although Chinese tobacco production grew from 1995 to 1996 by
8 percent, since 1997, China has been trying to decrease production.
Such measurements are being taken because of the decrease of the demand
for cigarettes in China. Anti-smoking sentiments have been growing
in China and have decreased cigarette demands. The decreasing program
has shown result. In 1999, production decreased by three percent
and in 2000 this number is supposed to drop even more.
Source:
U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Foreign Agriculture Service