Promoted in China's press as the Richmond, Virginia, of China, driving into Yuxi, in the southern Yunnun province, you get the impression of how a successful tobacco sector can generate all kinds of wealth. Yuxi is home to China's largest tobacco company, Hongta, and this has helped fuel real estate speculation - construction is everywhere. This urbanisation is a mixed blessing for Hongta. While the company invests in property, the arable land surrounding Yuxi that supplies tobacco is being gobbled up. So much so, that Yuxi is set by 2015 to officially become a suburb of Kunming, hitherto 100 km to the north, the capital of Yunnan province in southwestern China, and home to 6 million people.
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