From January to June 2007, China's tobacco industry registered more than RMB 200 billion (USD 26.5 billion) in pre-tax profits, up 26 per cent from 2006, according to ministry figures.

News agency Xinhua reported that administration spokesman, Zhang Xiulian, was upbeat about China's tobacco production, saying it would grow steadily in the next ten years. There are a total of 2.85 million contracted tobacco purchase agreements and 15.34 million acres of tobacco-growing area. The production and sale of cigarettes have also continued to grow. There were 14 national brands making more than 50 million boxes of cigarettes in China in the first half 2007.
The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration also announced that 4.12 billion counterfeit brand cigarettes were seized in the first half of 2007. Law enforcement agencies raided 1,557 counterfeit brand cigarette warehouses and arrested 2,995 people in connection with falsely branded cigarettes, 1,160 of them having been prosecuted, said Zhang.