Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/550331
56 tobaccoasia Province to a national-level brand. Diamond has been listed as one of the top 30 brands in China's tobacco industry. Diamond's sharp increase in market share is a reflection of its "high quality and reasonable price" brand concept. Currently, Diamond's markets have extended from 11 cities divided into urban districts into more 300 city- level regions in 33 Chinese provinces, autono- mous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government. Mutual cooperation between manufacturing and commercial sectors In speeches delivered on different occasions, Ling Chengxing frequently mentioned that the manufacturing and commercial sectors of the tobacco industry need to have mutual coopera- tion. The latest of these speeches was delivered at a meeting held in Hebei. Mutual coopera- tion between the manufacturing and commer- cial sectors of the tobacco industry of Hebei has been greatly beneficial to the development of Diamond, with the marketing potential fully tapped. This mutual cooperation is ultimately intended to ensure growth, guarantee the stabil- ity of the tobacco industry and its role in the growth of the local economy, and improve the image of the tobacco industry as a whole. CTHIC and Hebei Provincial Tobacco Mo- nopoly Administration (which doubles as Hebei Provincial Tobacco Company (HPTC)) attach importance to division of work between them, realizing common development through integra- tion and interaction. Sincere cooperation between manufacturing and commercial enterprises of the provincial tobacco industry once resulted in three top-level successes in tobacco production and marketing in northern China China zone: firstly, the biggest cigarette brand for the zone – Dia- mond – was created. In 2012, Diamond's annual sales volume reached 917,000 cases (45.85 billion cigarettes) while the total cigarette sales by HPTC reached 2.46 million cases (123 billion cigarettes). Secondly, the tobacco industry of Hebei Province was the first in the zone to conduct interprovincial reorganization of assets. Shijiazhuang Cigarette Factory and Changsha Cigarette Factory in Hunan Province jointly invested in the incorporation of Hebei Baisha Cigarette Co., Ltd., executed a re- location and technological transformation project, and explored new models for joint-venture pro- duction and reorganization of assets. And thirdly, the provincial tobacco industry was the biggest generator of taxes and profits in the zone. In 2012, the amount of taxes and profits generated by the manufacturing and commercial sectors of the to- bacco industry in Hebei Province reached a record high of CN¥20 billion (US$3.28 billion). Over the past 10 years, the average growth rate of taxes and profits on the part of the provincial tobacco indus- try has always been higher than the corresponding national average. On October 14-15, 2014, STMA director- general Ling Chengxing inspected the tobacco in- dustry of Hebei Province and emphasized that he expected the provincial tobacco industry to realize an 8% increase in the total amount of manufac- turing and commercial taxes and profits in 2014, with the increment to go beyond CN¥1.6 billion. He urged the tobacco manufacturing enterprises in Hebei to ensure fulfillment of the planning for growth and urged commercial enterprises to tap into the development potential. The manufactur- ing and commercial sectors need to assist each other in ensuring growth, and contribute to meet- ing STMA's general target of guaranteeing the an- nual generation of tax and profits by 8% or 10% to a total of CN¥1 trillion by the national tobacco industry in 2014, and to reform the structure of the tobacco industry. The inspection led to closer ties between CTHIC and HPTC. As a result, CTHIC actively communicated and coordinated with commercial enterprises in further planning the development of tobacco products in Hebei and realizing the rel- evant targets and tasks, striving to achieve greater success in the remaining months of 2014.