A Study On The Competition Between The Powers In The Tobacco Market In Northeastern China (1904-1943)

After the Russo-Japanese War,due to its special geographical location and social conditions,the northeast region of China became a stage for capital competition among the powers.Japan,Russia,Britain and the United States all tried to gain commercial interests in the Northeast,and the tobacco industry became an important area for the Powers to export capital to the Northeast due to its high economic value and stable demand.The tobacco capital of the Great Powers,represented by the British American Tobacco Company and the East Asia Tobacco Company,began to enter the Northeast market and formed a competitive relationship,competing fiercely for the tobacco market in the Northeast.British American Tobacco Company(hereinafter referred to as British American Tobacco),which had early roots and rich experience in the mainland,combined the Western modern enterprise system with the traditional Chinese relationship network marketing and established several branches throughout the country.In 1914,the British American Tobacco Company(BATCO)established its dominant position in the northeastern market after annexing the Russian company "Old Barzan Tobacco Company",which dominated the northern market.(hereinafter referred to as East Asia Tobacco)entered the Tohoku market later than Anglo-American Tobacco,but its market share was initially inferior to that of Anglo-American Tobacco due to the poor quality of its cigarettes and the fact that its capital was not as strong as that of Anglo-American Tobacco.In response to this situation,East Asia Tobacco took many measures to compete with Anglo-American Tobacco,but in the end,due to the small number of consumers and its own product and business problems,it was left behind in the competition for a long time.After the September 18 Incident in 1931,when the Japanese imperialists occupied the Northeast,the position of British American Tobacco and East Asian Tobacco in the Northeast market began to change,and after the establishment of the "Pseudo-Manchukuo" in 1932,East Asian Tobacco gradually encroached on the market share of British American Tobacco through political and military means,eventually causing British American Tobacco to lose its monopoly in the industry.In1937,the pseudo-Manchukuo government promulgated the Law on the Unification of Important Industries,announcing that the tobacco industry would be included in the scope of unification,and the share of British and American cigarettes in the northeastern market was drastically reduced."nationalized" and implemented a cigarette rationing system.At this time,the tobacco industry in the northeast had lost its original commercial trade nature and was completely reduced to a tool of Japanese imperialism’s economic aggression against the northeast,marking the end of the struggle of the powers.