China's tobacco industry paid CNY 604.6 billion (EUR 67.2 billion) in taxes last year, up 16.95 per cent year-on-year, said the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) on Tuesday.

According to Xinhua news agency, the industry handed over CNY 498.85 billion in profits to the government in 2010, up 21.2 per cent from 2009. Tobacco growers' incomes also rose steadily during the past five years, with household incomes increasing to CNY 25,100 in 2010 from CNY 5,700 in 2006.
China spent CNY 36.6 billion on infrastructure construction in tobacco-growing regions during the past five years, said the head of the STMA, Jiang Chengkang. (pi)