1. History

2. Controversy
    Measures to counter illicit cigarettes in China  Hongtashan containing heavy metals 

3. See also

4. References

History

Hongtashan was launched in 1959 and gets its name from the location of its main production facility, Hongtashan Hill ('Red Pagoda Hill') in Yuxi.^[4] The cigarettes are made with a flue-cured tobacco type and therefore sugar and nicotine levels are relatively high.^[5]

Hongtashan cigarettes are mainly sold in China, though the export business is still a major operation, under the control of Indonesian businessman Ted Sioeng. In the United States, the brand is sold as 'Red Pagoda Mountain'.^[6][7]

The product has been awarded many titles of quality product at provincial or national level in tobacco industry: in 1985 and 1986, it was granted the title of National Famous Product; in 1987, it received the silver medal of National Quality Products; in 1989, it received the golden medal at the First National Food Exhibition; in the same year, it was selected as the National Best Sold Product; in 1990, it received the golden medal at the Show of China's 10-year Packing achievements; in 1991, it received golden medal of National Quality Product; in 1997, "Hongtashan" was designated as "China's Famous Brand Name" by National Industrial and Commercial Bureau.^[1]

In 2001, Hongtashan was ranked as the most valuable of all brands in Mainland China for the 7th consecutive year by the People's Daily,^[8] beating household appliances brand Haier.

In 2004, Hong Kong-based distributor Silver Base Sales Manager Alex Chung (left) and Marco Tse, reported that they wanted to export the Hongtashan Premium variant to European and U.S. based Duty Free airport shops after the ease of visa restrictions for Chinese abroad. Retailers from Heathrow Airport, Charles de Gaulle Airport, San Francisco International Airport and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol expressed interest in the product during the TFWA World Exhibition 2004, and they were firming up the details with Silver Base. Southeast Asian airports began selling the cigarettes from April 2004 onwards. Of these locations, Singapore Changi Airport sold the highest volume.^[9]

In 2013, The China Whisperer named Hongtashan one of the most expensive cigarettes on the Chinese market, costing 500 Chinese Yuan per carton.^[10] It was worth an estimated $3.9 billion according to the Beijing Famous Brand- Name Asset Appraisal Firm in 1995.^[11]

Controversy

Measures to counter illicit cigarettes in China

In 2006, Chinese tobacco manufacturers, in an attempt to gain greater market shares, are doing all they can to constantly renew their cigarette packaging, contributing to unprecedented prosperity in the tobacco packaging segment. The packaging of some cigarette products far exceeds that of famous-brand, high-quality foreign brands. So far, such fine packaging technologies as gold or silver stamping and frosted finish, bronzing printing and holographic anti-counterfeiting have all appeared on hard packaging of domestic cigarette products.

In February 1996, the Yuxi Cigarette Factory as the core of Hongta Group in the Yunnan Province — the largest Chinese tobacco manufacturer — took the lead by applying an oil-resistant label on its Mount Hongtashan cigarette products, an easily identifiable sign containing special fibers on the packaging of all cartons. Since then, tobacco manufacturers in all regions had followed suit by applying various high or new technologies to make special labels in efforts to prevent counterfeiting and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the companies and consumers.

Persistent increases in the cost of packaging has contributed to raising the total cost of production of cigarette products, which in turn results in declining in profits. Presently, a majority of low-grade cigarette brands in China have very low profit making capacity. In reality, losses are made in the production of over 50% of low-grade cigarette brands. Chinese tobacco manufacturers, including Hongta Group (the largest Chinese tobacco manufacturing enterprise group) and Shanghai Tobacco Group (China’s most profitable tobacco manufacturing enterprise) have all expressed acknowledgement of this status quo. For example, such low-grade brands as the white-packaging Hongmei (The Red Plum Blossom) and the soft-packaging Baoshi (Gem) of Hongta Group are making virtually no profit. Therefore, control over the cost of packaging has become a thorny issue for many tobacco manufacturers. State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) – the watchdog of China’s tobacco industry – has noticed the problem of overpackaging that has driven up the total cost of cigarette production in China. On July 4, 2005, the State Council – the highest governing body in China – issued the Notice on Key Points of the Work for Building an Economic Society for a Recent Period of Time, which explicitly provides that the state will study the adoption of policies and measures for banning overpackaging, and enact regulatory legal documents on prohibition of overpackaging, against which there are strong public complaints.^[12]

Hongtashan containing heavy metals

In 2010, a senior official with the country's top tobacco watchdog had expressed doubts over the credibility of a study which suggests that some Chinese cigarettes contain too many heavy metals, saying simply comparing Chinese and Canadian cigarettes is not scientific.

A study released by the International Tobacco Control Project showed that some Chinese cigarettes had significantly high levels of heavy metals, with some containing about three times the level of lead, cadmium and arsenic of Canadian cigarette brands. The brands involved include Honghe, Hongtashan and Baisha, and the metal content in tobacco comes from the contaminated soil in which the tobacco leaf is grown, the study shows. However, Wang Xiansheng, deputy director of the technology department of China's State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, expressed doubts over the study's credibility. "I don't think the research which simply compares Chinese- and Canadian-made cigarettes can be trusted and so far there are no standards on tobacco products' heavy mental concentration in China and the world." he said.

An unnamed official with the general office of the Shanghai Tobacco (Group) Co told the Yangtze Evening News on Saturday that the high heavy metal concentration detected in the cigarettes comes mainly from tobacco leaves. "It's related to many factors including the natural environment where they grow, so that's not under the control of the tobacco producer." the officer was quoted as saying.^[13]

See also

• Chunghwa
• Smoking in China
• China National Tobacco Corp

References

• Glass City Marathon
• Glass classification
• Glasscock, Sarah
• Glassco Commission
• Glass (composition)
• Glass Coughs
• Glass Cutter
• Glass, David
• Glass Doll
• Glass Elephant
• Glass Elevator
• Glass Elevator (professional film organization)
• Glassell, Andrew
• Glass, Elliot & Co
• Glass, Elliot & Company
• Glass, Elliott & Co.
• Glassel railway station
• Glass Enclosure (song)
• Glasser, Charles
• Glasser's Master Theorem
• Glasser's master theorem
• Glasser, William
• Glass Escalator
• Glass escalator
• Glasses (IU song)