Chinese cigarette output up 2.4 pct in 2012

BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Output and sales of Chinese cigarettes rose less than 2.4 percent in 2012 from the previous year, an industry official said on Thursday.

The country planted 21.18 million mu (1.51 million hectares) of flue-cured tobacco in 2012, said Jiang Chengkang, head of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration.

The crops brought 44,500 yuan (7,063 U.S. dollars) in income to each farming household on average, up 48.4 percent year on year, Jiang said.

China's tobacco industry paid 864.9 billion yuan in taxes in 2012, up 15.7 percent year on year, as well as handed over 716.6 billion yuan in profits to the government, up 19 percent from one year earlier, Jiang said.

The government has set a goal of implementing a public smoking ban during the 2011-2015 period. Some cities have enacted related local legislation.

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