Twenty six factories producing fake famous-brand cigarette in the suburbs of Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, have been shut down in the current nationwide campaign to crack down on fake cigarettes.

More than 50 fake cigarette producing machines and a large amount of cut tobacco, fake cigarettes and packaging materials were seized during a recent blitz inspection by the State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision.

Fake cigarettes have flooded the Chinese market in recent years causing a loss of nearly 10 billion yuan (about 1.2 billion US dollars) in tax revenues each year and violating both reputable cigarette brand names and consumers, said Pan Yue, deputy director of the bureau.

Efforts must be made by state and local quality departments as well as public security to effectively stamp out fake cigarette, which will benefit the growth of local economy, he said.