Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/699960
40 tobaccoasia / Issue 3, 2016 July / August By TobaccoChina Online Today, despite the recent slowdown following years of high economic growth, a new round of scientific, technological, and industrial revolution resulted in the emergence of a series of new technologies, new industries, and new fields of innovation. The tobacco industry, which many experts are calling "the barometer of the Chinese economy", shows similar trends. Faced with an economic slowdown, increase of inventories in both the manufacturing and commercial sectors, shrinking room for maneuver when it comes to structural reform of products, and the quickly approaching turning point in market demand (which are com- monly referred to as the four major problems faced by the tobacco industry in China), enter- prises of both sectors strive to come up with new methods and ways of reform and innovation. Zhejiang Province is a rich region and an eco- nomic development leader in China. Both the to- bacco industry manufacturing and commercial en- terprises in Zhejiang keep innovating throughout steady business development. As a result, Liqun of China Tobacco Zhejiang Industrial (CTZI) emerged as one of China's big competitive ciga- rette brands thanks years of investment, while the commercial sector the province's tobacco busi- ness ranks among the most successful in the coun- try. In particular, Wenzhou City is one of the most rapidly developing regions in all of China. Since China adopted its policy of reform and openness to the outside world in 1978, Wenzhou demonstrated its innovative spirit, coming up with competitive household products like kitchen knives, scissors, peeling knives, hair cutting knives, and screwdrivers that were well received nation- wide and exported. Having developed such com- petitive products, the city gradually formed the "Wenzhou model" for active business develop- ment over the past 30+ years. Today, amid inten- sifying innovation and reform across China, the Wenzhou City – an economically developed region in east China's affluent Zhejiang Province – has been remarkably successful in cigarette sales promotion using innovative techniques amid the current adversity in tobacco trade seen as part of a general slowdown in economic development in China. The Wenzhou Model: Innovation in the Face of Adversity Wenzhou City Tobacco Monopoly Administration is actively exerting efforts to develop a "pyramid-shaped" business ecosystem of retail terminals.