Sales of tobacco products fell 11.7 per cent in the first five months of 2016 due in part to higher taxes and a government crackdown on the use of cigarettes as gifts, the South China Morning Post reported.

Profit dropped 24 per cent, the newspaper said, citing National Bureau of Statistics data. High-end cigarettes are a standard gift often bought with public money for official receptions, the newspaper said. Wholesale taxes were increased in May, the last month of the reporting period. Last year cigarette sales reversed years of growth by declining 2.4 per cent, the Morning Post said.