Production and Trade China is the largest producer of tobacco in the world as well as the largest consumer. Since 1980, China has changed from being a net importer to a net exporter of unmanufactured tobacco.
Smuggling is a major problem in China.
There is also widespread counterfeiting of cigarettes throughout China. The transnational tobacco companies, active in China from the last century, left in the early 1950s. They have now returned, with joint venture factories and multifaceted Cooperation Agreements. China signed an agreement with the United States that by December 1994, all import licensing requirements for tobacco products and all scientifically unjustified health standards related to tobacco would be lifted within a year. In 1995, China also reduced tariffs on imported cigarettes.