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The average tar content of cigarettes in China was 14.7 milligrams in 2002, a drop of 0.6 milligrams from 2001, said State Tobacco Monopoly Administration spokesman Zhou Ruizeng in Beijing Thursday.
This conclusion was reached after 1,124 tests of 610 brands of cigarettes produced by all of China's cigarette factories, Zhou said at a press conference.
The Chinese tobacco industry continued to explore the development of low tar cigarettes through the application of new technology in 2002, and will further reduce the tar content to bring it into compliance with the international standard of 12 milligrams per cigarette by 2005.
The tobacco industry in China also adjusted its structure and established order in the cigarette market last year by shutting down 35 pipe tobacco factories due to the low quality of their products, canceling over 100 cigarette brands, resolving 320,000 cases of counterfeit production, and reducing the number of cigarette factories to 123, Zhou said.
(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2003)
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