As recently as the 1980s, China's independent tobacco factories used outdated equipment to the extent that some processes were even carried out by hand.

The acceptance of foreign competition sparked a massive demand for tobacco production equipment in the 1990s, which has since slowed.

It established an internal team to advance alternative to draft language viewed as harmful to its business, which also hosted visits by key government officials to tobacco factories, sponsor talks, produce research papers and publish a weekly magazine to promote its ideas.

To further their goal of consolidation China Tobacco plans to reduce the number of factories below 100 in the near future.

The smaller local factories pay a sort of tax to China Tobacco, but keep much of their profit.

These restrictions have forced China National into a strategy that harkens back to the 60's and 70's in the United States; with "cigarette girls", attractive women dressed in brand logos, handing out samples, lighters, and promotional material in front of clubs and bars.

In recent years several varieties of cigarettes targeted at women have been released (breaking a longstanding taboo).

Marlboro, 234 [id], Camel, Kool, Lucky Strike, 555, and a variety of other brands can all be found throughout major cities in China.

Foreign sales make up only 3 percent of the Chinese market, yet accounts for 51 billion cigarettes every year.