China Tobacco

China Tobacco headquarters in Beijing
Native name	中国烟草
Company type	Government agency andState-owned enterprise (one institution with two names)
Industry	Tobacco
Founded	January 1982
Headquarters	55 South Yuetan Street,Xicheng District,Beijing,China, 100045
Area served	China
Key people	Zhang Jianmin (张建民 Director of State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, President of China National Tobacco Corporation)
Products	Cigarettes
Owner	Chinese Central Government
Parent	Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
Website	www.tobacco.gov.cn

China National Tobacco Corporation (Chinese:中国烟草总公司), branded asChina Tobacco (中国烟草), is a national keystate-owned corporation with chartered monopoly status in China to manufacture and selltobacco products.

TheState Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA;Chinese:国家烟草专卖局;pinyin:Guójiā Yāncǎo Zhuānmài Jú) is a Chinese government agency responsible for national tobacco monopoly regulation. Under the policy ofone institution with two names, the two agencies are co-located in the same office and share the same website.^[1]

China Tobacco enjoys alegal monopoly in the country,^[2] accounting for 96% ofcigarette sales in the country, and is the world's largest manufacturer of tobacco products by revenue.^[3]

In 1981, Chinese leaderDeng Xiaoping established the China National Tobacco Corporation in order to modernize the previously fragmented tobacco market. In 1983, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration was also established.^[4]

CNTC originally oversaw a decentralized system of provincial companies and factories. During the 1990s and 2000s, reforms consolidated hundreds of small plants into larger enterprises under central coordination, creating a more unified national monopoly. A major objective was modernization: as late as the 1980s, many factories used outdated manual equipment. The monopoly allowed limited entry of foreign firms in exchange for modern machinery, while protecting the domestic market. By the early 2000s, China Tobacco was producing one-third of the world’s cigarettes, employing over half a million people nationwide, and contributing between 7% and 11% of government revenue.^[5]

The China National Tobacco Corporation and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration areone institution with two names. The STMA is an agency of theMinistry of Industry and Information Technology.^[6] The organization enforces the state tobacco monopoly and operates as China Tobacco for production, marketing, distribution, and sales. China Tobacco remains deeply integrated with government, creating what scholars have described as a conflict of interest between economic interests and public health regulation. Local bureaus and factories remain important actors under provincial monopoly administrations, though central authorities increasingly direct consolidation and brand strategy. China Tobacco oversees a large portfolio of cigarette brands, historically numbering in the hundreds across provincial factories. Since the 1990s, the company has pursued a strategy of consolidation, reducing the number of small regional labels and promoting stronger national brands.

Although historically inward-looking, CNTC has adopted strategies for internationalization since the 2000s, motivated by market saturation at home and rising public health regulation. These include promoting export brands, acquiring overseas operations, and forming partnerships with foreign tobacco firms. Scholars note, however, that despite its status as the world’s largest cigarette producer, CNTC’s global presence remains limited compared to other multinational tobacco corporations.

One notable overseas contribution has been in Zimbabwe, where CNTC subsidiary Tian Ze Tobacco has played a key role in revitalizing the country’s tobacco sector. Following the collapse of production in the 2000s followingland reforms, Tian Ze introduced contract farming, offering farmers favorable loans, technical assistance, and higher purchase prices compared to competitors. As a result, Zimbabwe’s tobacco harvest rebounded to record levels, with China now purchasing about 40% of the country’s annual output.^[7]

• Smoking in China

• Benedict, Carol (2011).Golden-Silk Smoke: A History of Tobacco in China, 1550–2010. University of California Press.ISBN 978-0-520-94856-3.

• Official website

• China Tobacco
• Companies established in 1982
• Retail companies of China
• 1982 establishments in China
• Government agencies of China
• Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
• Government-owned companies of China
• Tobacco companies
• One institution with multiple names

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Chinese-language text
• Articles using infobox templates with no data rows
• Articles containing simplified Chinese-language text