China seized 4.12 billion counterfeit brand cigarettes in the
first half of 2007, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration
announced Thursday.
Law enforcement agencies raided 1,557 counterfeit brand
cigarette warehouses and arrested 2,995 people in connection with
falsely branded cigarettes with 1,160 prosecuted, said
administration spokesman Zhang Xiulian.
Zhang said law enforcement agencies also solved 178 cases, each
of which involved more than one million yuan, and seriously dented
the sales network of counterfeit brand cigarettes.
From January to June, China's tobacco industry registered more
than 200 billion yuan in pre-tax profits, up 26 percent on a year
earlier, according to ministry figures.
Zhang was upbeat about China's tobacco production, saying it
would grow steadily in the next consecutive ten years, but made no
comment about the health issues related to smoking.
(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2007)
