Cigarette production increased slightly

Chinese cigarette production during the first half of this year, at 1,300,000 million, was increased by 0.2 per cent on that of the first half of last year, according to a Xinhua News Agency story published in the Global Post of Boston, US.

Tobacco taxes during the first half of this year, which raised about Yuan579.54 billion (US$94 billion), accounted for about 7.8 per cent of China’s fiscal revenues, the story said in quoting figures from the Finance Ministry and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA).

Also based on STMA figures and comparing the same periods, the amount of farming land dedicated to tobacco in China fell by 170,000 ha to 1.23 million ha.