China seized 4.12 billion counterfeit brand cigarettes in the first half of 2007, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration announced Thursday.

Law enforcement agencies raided 1,557 counterfeit brand cigarette warehouses and arrested 2,995 people in connection with falsely branded cigarettes with 1,160 prosecuted, said administration spokesman Zhang Xiulian.

Zhang said law enforcement agencies also solved 178 cases, each of which involved more than one million yuan, and seriously dented the sales network of counterfeit brand cigarettes.

From January to June, China's tobacco industry registered more than 200 billion yuan in pre-tax profits, up 26 percent on a year earlier, according to ministry figures.

Zhang was upbeat about China's tobacco production, saying it would grow steadily in the next consecutive ten years, but made no comment about the health issues related to smoking.

(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2007)