The development history of Yuxi Cigarette Factory

In early 1956, in order to make full use of the high-quality tobacco leaves in Yuxi, Yunnan, the National Agricultural Products Purchasing Department decided to invest 2.947 million yuan to establish the Yuxi Tobacco Leaf Re-curing Factory at the foot of Hongta Mountain in Yuxi County. On November 1, 1957, the Yuxi Tobacco Leaf Re-curing Factory was completed and put into operation, ending the history of outsourcing flue-cured tobacco in the "Hometown of Clouds and Smoke". The annual re-curing design capacity is 30,000 tons, ranking first in Yunnan Province. It exported 905,000 kilograms of tobacco leaves for the first time that year.

In October 1958, the Yunnan Provincial Government approved an investment of 1.2 million yuan to expand the cigarette factory based on the Yuxi Re-baking Factory. At the same time, the Ministry of Light Industry transferred some cigarette equipment from the Shanghai No. 3 Machine Tool Factory (formerly the public-private joint venture Huamei Tobacco Factory) to the Yuxi Re-curing Factory. That year, 407 boxes of cigarettes were produced, and a tax profit of 545,500 yuan was achieved. In April 1959, 36 technicians from Shanghai, 43 pieces of main equipment, and 21 pieces of new supporting equipment came to Yuxi. On May 4, they officially started trial production of cigarettes, and then changed the name of the factory to "Yuxi Cigarette Factory". On the eve of the National Day in the same year, as a gift to the 10th anniversary of the National Day, the "Hongtashan" brand cigarettes were created. In 1960, the Yuxi Cigarette Factory produced 3,489 tons of recured tobacco leaves and produced 122,300 boxes of cigarettes, accounting for approximately one-thirtieth of the country's total output that year. It achieved a tax profit of 33.28 million yuan, making it one of the largest cigarette manufacturers in the country.

In order to speed up the expansion and follow the development of national construction, the reconstruction and expansion project was completed in just over 50 days from November to December 1958. The three workshops were in order: the first workshop was responsible for the tobacco leaves. After cutting the tobacco into shreds, the second workshop started the cigarette rolling machine to produce cigarettes, the third workshop was responsible for packaging the cigarettes, and the re-curing plant became the re-curing workshop. Together with the machine repair workshop responsible for machine maintenance, they jointly formed the Yuxi Cigarette Factory.

Beginning in the second half of 1960, affected by natural disasters, cigarette raw materials were in short supply, cigarette production declined, and personnel were reduced. From 1963 to 1965, the output of Yuxi Cigarette Factory remained at about 95,000 boxes per year, which was basically a restorative and stable state. From 1966 to 1968, due to the impact of the "Cultural Revolution", the quality of cigarettes declined sharply, and the output and economic benefits also fluctuated. In 1966, 30 new production equipment were added to realize the mechanization of small packs of 20 sticks, double-layer paper packaging and tobacco leaf stemming. Therefore, the output reached 102,900 and 102,500 boxes for two consecutive years. However, by 1968, the output plummeted to 5.3 10,000 boxes, the tax profit is only 16.84 million yuan, only half of the previous year.

From 1969 to 1973, through "military control", production increased year by year. In March 1973, with the approval of the Provincial Planning Commission, the second phase of the 100,000-box technical renovation and expansion project was carried out. By the end of 1978, this project was completed. The entire factory covers an area of ??87,500 square meters, produces 275,000 boxes of cigarettes, and achieved a tax profit of 97.9337 million yuan. Yuxi Cigarette Factory has basically been established as a comprehensive medium-sized tobacco processing enterprise. This period is divided into four stages, with the rising stage from 1979 to 1983. After 1979, the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government selected tobacco as a key industry to support development in Yunnan Province, creating good development opportunities for Yuxi Cigarette Factory. During this period, relying on state funding, the scale of the enterprise went through four technical reforms, and productivity continued to increase. At the same time, through the reform of the distribution system, the enthusiasm of the majority of employees was mobilized. Compared with 1978, the cigarette output increased from 274,900 boxes to 464,500 boxes. , with an average increase of 11.06% in the past five years, and the realized profits and taxes rose to 230 million yuan, more than doubled.

The period from 1984 to 1988 was the take-off stage. The characteristic of this stage is that it took the lead in carrying out the first round of large-scale and high-starting technological transformation in the same industry across the country. *** invested US$54.769 million (equivalent to RMB 250 million) and successively introduced 89 sets (sets) of cigarette equipment with the world's advanced level at that time, enabling the entire process of cigarette production to realize automated flow operations. Through this technological transformation, a solid material and technical foundation has been laid for the company's take-off. In the past five years, the annual cigarette output has doubled from 537,000 boxes to 1.0775 million boxes, making it the first large-scale cigarette company in my country with an annual output exceeding one million boxes. At the same time, the grade and quality of cigarettes have also been greatly improved. In 1988, "Hongtashan" brand cigarettes won the National Silver Award for Quality Products, and "Ashima" and "Hongmei" won the title of Excellence.

In July 1988, among the 13 famous cigarettes that the country announced to open prices, "Hongtashan", "Ashima", "Yuxi" and "Congratulations on the New Year" were among them. In the same year, it was designated as a national large-scale enterprise and achieved industrial and commercial tax profits of 1.168 billion yuan, nearly quadrupling compared with 299 million yuan in 1984, achieving simultaneous growth in output, quality and efficiency.

The period from 1989 to 1995 was a period of rapid development. This stage is characterized by continuous technological transformation and improvement of management work. In 1991, it was promoted to a national first-class enterprise. "Hongtashan" won the National Gold Medal for High-Quality Products, and demand exceeded supply in the market. From 1991 to 1994, more than 200 million yuan was invested in three years to introduce modern cigarette equipment with international standards in the early 1990s. The completion of this project ended the history of Yuxi Cigarette Factory producing mouthless cigarettes. In September 1995, Yuxi Cigarette Factory was restructured into Yuxi Hongta Tobacco (Group) Co., Ltd., and Yunnan Hongta Group was established with the company as the core enterprise. It marks that the company has reached a new historical level. In 1995, the output was 1.8875 million boxes, and the tax profit was 15.85 billion yuan, an increase of 66.89% and 5.85 times respectively compared with 1989. The average annual increases were 8.9% and 37.80% respectively.

The period from 1996 to present has been a stable development stage. In 1996, with the basic completion of the new factory area, cigarette production exceeded 2 million boxes in one fell swoop, reaching 2.22 million boxes, and achieved industrial and commercial tax profits of 19.337 billion yuan. In 1997, faced with the severe situation of oversupply and falling prices in the national cigarette market, which led to production and inventory reduction in the entire industry, as well as the actual situation of an in-depth internal investigation and handling of the case of former chairman Chu Shijian, the company followed the instructions of the Provincial Party Committee and focused on "stability". Focusing on reducing quantity and increasing efficiency with one hand, and fighting against corruption and promoting integrity with the other, we not only won the honor of recognizing "Hongtashan" as a "China Famous Trademark" by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, but also produced a total of 2.183 million boxes of cigarettes throughout the year and achieved a tax profit of 19.35 billion yuan. , achieved the goal of reducing volume and increasing efficiency through structural adjustment. In 1998, the company continued to develop steadily, producing 2.21 million boxes of cigarettes and realizing industrial and commercial tax profits of 20.456 billion yuan; the per capita tax profit was 3.85 million yuan, achieving the goal of tax profits exceeding 20 billion yuan in 2000 two years ahead of schedule; cigarette exports were 145,600 boxes, more than It grew by 38% last year and earned 165 million yuan in foreign exchange. In the 42 years since its establishment, the factory has achieved a cumulative tax profit of 120 billion yuan, and in the past three years, it has achieved 59.1 billion yuan, which is equivalent to the total of the previous 39 years. In 1998, according to a report issued by the Beijing Famous Brand Asset Appraisal Firm, the brand value of "Hongtashan" was 38.6 billion yuan, making it the number one brand in China.