Great Wall cigars could arrive in France before long

The cigar world may soon see an unexpected arrival on the French market: Great Wall, the Chinese premium cigar brand, has announced its intention to expand internationally. Little known in Europe so far, the brand nevertheless has a long history behind it and an upmarket positioning in its home country. In a sector dominated by Cuban cigars and by other long-established growing regions, the possible introduction of cigars made in China in France raises as much curiosity as it does questions. Tobacco professionals and aficionados are following the development closely, all the more so since Great Wall Cigars appears to be putting every card on the table to make its entry onto the French scene work.

Great Wall: a Chinese cigar giant with a long history

Founded in 1918 in the province of Sichuan, Great Wall Cigars is the oldest cigar brand in China. Its history is closely tied to that of the country: in the 1960s, the Shifang factory that makes Great Wall cigars produced cigars specially for chairman Mao Zedong, who was particularly fond of one of their blends. These “132” cigars (for 132 mm, a pre-cut format) took on a legendary status once Mao had given them his approval, to the point of becoming a national symbol. The brand even acquired a diplomatic dimension: Mao regularly gave Great Wall cigars to foreign dignitaries, among them General de Gaulle during his presidency in the 1960s. That practice gave Great Wall lasting visibility and turned the Chinese cigar into an instrument of soft power.

Over the decades, Great Wall has remained under the control of the China National Tobacco Corporation, the Chinese state tobacco monopoly. The company has heavily modernised its plant, opening a state-of-the-art factory at Shifang in 2007 to increase its production capacity. It has also entered into partnerships with international players in the sector, such as the Altadis group and the Dutch company Agio, in order to gain access to advanced technology and premium cigar expertise. A Dominican master roller, Lucrecia Valdez, is for instance sent regularly to Great Wall to train the rollers and to keep quality in line with international standards. These collaborations have helped Great Wall raise the standard of its hand-made modules while keeping a Chinese identity in its tobacco blends.

A domestic leader facing imported cigars

On the Chinese market, Great Wall now holds a dominant position. For a long time, wealthy Chinese smokers had eyes only for Cuban Habanos — to the point that China has become the largest export market in the world for Cuban cigars in recent years. Great Wall, however, has taken advantage of growing local demand and of the premium positioning of its products to establish itself gradually as a domestic alternative. The brand claims more than 50% of the market in the upmarket cigar segment in China, and close to 70% of the hand-made premium cigars sold in the country. In 2022, Great Wall shipped more than 14 million hand-made cigars, around 65% of the Chinese market in that segment — a sharp rise from the 2 million units produced in 2019.

Great Wall still faces serious competition on its home ground: imported cigars, in particular Cuban puros, retain a strong appeal for collectors and for buyers of expensive cigars in China. To compete, the Chinese brand has adopted a quality strategy modelled on the established methods of the major growing regions. Since the early 2000s it has been growing “Cuban seed” tobacco on its plantations in Sichuan, taking advantage of a local climate surprisingly close to that of the Vuelta Abajo in Cuba. Great Wall has also started growing tobacco in the tropical province of Hainan in order to widen its range of origins. Above all, the brand is willing to use imported tobacco in the filler and binder of its modules: Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Nicaragua. Numerous batches of foreign leaf are bought and shipped to China to go into its cigars. The result is a more international aromatic profile, likely to suit palates outside China.

This gradual move upmarket is producing results. A Western critic who tried one of the new Great Wall cigars at the InterTabac 2024 trade fair noted “a remarkable improvement” in quality compared with earlier Chinese attempts. The cigar tasted that day turned out to be “perfectly acceptable”, to the point that, in his view, if it were sold under the name of an established producer it would find its place without difficulty on the demanding American market. Although it does not yet reach the level of the best cigars of the year, that module showed that Great Wall has reached a respectable standard of construction and flavour, a sign of seriousness for its future expansion.

Stated international ambitions

The Great Wall Cigars stand at the InterTabac trade fair in Dortmund in September 2024, the brand’s first appearance on the European scene. That noticed presence at the largest tobacco trade fair in Europe illustrates Great Wall’s determination to make itself known beyond its borders. Until recently, Great Wall cigars were almost impossible to find outside Asia, but the situation is changing. China Tobacco International HK (CTIHK), the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of the Chinese state company, has just signed an exclusive worldwide distribution agreement with the manufacturer China Tobacco Sichuan Industrial, the owner of Great Wall. That contract, made official at the end of July 2025, is intended to roll out Great Wall cigars on international markets, with the exception of mainland China, which remains handled directly by the parent company. It is a major strategic step for the brand, backed at the highest level by the Chinese tobacco administration, which sees it as a model for the export development of its products.

In practical terms, CTIHK is now responsible for setting up distribution partnerships country by country in order to bring Great Wall into specialist shops around the world. As early as 2024, the Hong Kong subsidiary had laid the groundwork by launching the brand on a few pilot markets in Asia: Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia, mainly through duty-free outlets. On the strength of that first experience, Great Wall is now targeting Europe, a key market for any upmarket cigar. The management team said in June 2024 that it intended to move on the continent, and the signs have multiplied since. Besides the stand set up at InterTabac Dortmund in September 2024, Great Wall has again booked space at the 2025 fair, still in Dortmund, this time run directly by CTIHK. Attending this annual gathering of cigar producers and distributors is an essential way of making contact with European importers, having products tasted and preparing their entry into the various countries.

In parallel, Great Wall is working on its international brand image. The packaging of its vitolas has been carefully redesigned and readily recalls the classic look of Cuban boxes, which is probably no accident. The brand has also linked up with Western houses in order to gain credibility: at InterTabac, Great Wall presented a collaboration with Elie Bleu, the French maker of made-to-measure humidors. A limited series of cases decorated with motifs of the Great Wall of China was designed in partnership with Elie Bleu, an illustration of the upmarket positioning and the finish that Great Wall wants to convey to European enthusiasts. These branding efforts, added to the improvement in the cigars themselves, show that the Chinese manufacturer intends to compete with the established names.

Towards an entry onto the French market

France is logically one of the countries targeted by the European expansion of Great Wall Cigars. No firm date has yet been announced for the actual arrival of the Chinese cigars in France, but many signs suggest that it is only a matter of time. L’Amateur de Cigare, the reference magazine well known to French smokers, has reported that Great Wall was actively preparing its international rollout and that a stand had been reserved for the brand at the InterTabac fair in Dortmund in September. That information, picked up by the tobacco trade press, is significant: it means that a European importer or distributor, perhaps even a French one, has enough interest in the brand to support it at the fair. Distribution agreements for various European countries, France among them, can be expected to be negotiated in the wake of InterTabac 2025.

The French cigar market is one of the most active in continental Europe, with well-informed buyers attached both to Cuban Havanas and to New World production (the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and others). The arrival of a new player from China would be a first. Until now, Chinese cigars have been absent from French shelves, apart from a few niche channels and items brought back from trips. Great Wall could therefore be the first to take on the challenge. Aware of the scepticism it may meet, the brand is counting on the curiosity of French aficionados. Its cigars do have points of interest: careful construction, partly unusual tobaccos and the standing of a rare object. Great Wall has already shown an interest in France in the past, launching in 2017 a cigar dedicated to Franco-Chinese friendship whose box carried the Great Wall of China and the Eiffel Tower side by side. That special edition, symbolic though it was, shows that the brand sees France as favourable ground for its international profile.

Which Great Wall cigars for the French public?

How Great Wall cigars will be received by French smokers and retailers, known for being demanding, remains to be seen. On this point the Chinese company’s strategy is clear: to show that its cigars match the upmarket modules of Cuban or Latin American origin in quality. French connoisseurs will probably discover a range including Great Wall’s flagship series. Among them is the 132 series — a nod to the 132 mm cigar approved by Mao — available in robusto, churchill and other modules, and presented as the most traditional expression of the company’s know-how. Great Wall also offers more modern lines such as the “Spectacular” No 1 and No 3, which use tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic alongside Chinese tobacco in order to give a more complex aromatic range. These cigars, sold at around €18 apiece in Asia, are clearly placed in the top price bracket. Other limited editions and presentation boxes may also be offered to catch the attention of collectors.

On the flavour side, early reports describe cigars that are mild to medium in strength, with dominant woody, creamy and slightly spicy notes. One taster who smoked a Great Wall No.1 mentions malted milk, roasted chestnut and cedar, developing without harshness throughout. Other modules from the brand are said to bring out dried fruit flavours and a certain honeyed softness. Each series will of course have its own character, and it will be up to French enthusiasts to form their own opinion, cigar in hand. What matters is that the construction and the burn appear to be there, an essential condition for convincing buyers used to Cuban and Central American production.

A turning point worth following

The possible introduction of Great Wall cigars in France would mark a further stage in the globalisation of the upmarket cigar business. Seeing a Chinese brand try its luck on the French market would have seemed unlikely only a few years ago, so closely was that trade associated with a handful of emblematic growing regions. Yet China, the second largest consumer of cigars in the world behind the United States, fully intends to play a leading role in this globalised industry. Great Wall Cigars, with the backing of the China Tobacco group, is positioned as the spearhead of that ambition. Its success in France will depend on several factors: the objective quality of the cigars of course, but also the ability to fit into the tightly structured network of tobacconists and specialist shops, and to win the confidence of buyers who are often loyal to the brands they know.

French tobacco professionals will clearly be watching Great Wall’s performance closely in the months and years ahead. If the first reactions are positive and demand follows, other Chinese brands may be tempted to take the step of exporting to Europe. Conversely, a commercial failure for Great Wall would signal that consumers are not ready for cigars stamped China. Either way, the move fits into a broader diversification of the world cigar offering. After the emergence of new origins (Mexico, Costa Rica, the Philippines and others), it is China’s turn to want its share. Will Great Wall cigars arrive in France soon? Everything suggests they will. The ball is now in the court of French importers — and soon in that of smokers, who will judge what place this “wall of China” deserves in their humidors.