An imported cigarette canister, c. 1930s

The British-American Tobacco Company (BATC), founded in 1902, was a leader in cigarette production in Shanghai and Hong Kong. They held this title until 1915, when the Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company was established in Hong Kong. In 1919, upon the incorporation of BATC in Hong Kong, the two rival tobacco manufacturers were fiercely competitive, with operations only stopping at the outbreak of World War II. Today, they still remain the largest cigarette manufacturers in Hong Kong.