A ‘Financial Times’ investigation blames Chinese national Chen Zhi, a partner of Cuba’s and now imprisoned in his own country, for having erred in his business strategy
14ymedio, Madrid, September 4, 2026 / “It’s quite a surprising situation, how the Cubans have given away the tobacco industry,” says Laurence Davis, owner of the Sautter Cigars shop in London, with irony. That blunt statement closes an investigative report published this Thursday by the prestigious British newspaper Financial Times, which traces the recent history of Habanos S.A. and how the strategy of turning Cuban cigars into an ultra-luxury item has destroyed the brand.
“They ruined the image of the average Cuban cigar smoker, who used to smoke a Cohiba Robusto for 40 pounds, by raising it to 100,” the businessman adds, noting that the loss of customers is not offset by the profits the company may have made in recent years.
The greatest responsibility, according to those interviewed for the report, falls on the Chinese-Cambodian billionaire – now detained – Chen Zhi, leader of the Prince Group conglomerate. In April 2020, the half of Habanos S.A. that belonged to Imperial Tobacco – the other half is controlled by the state-owned Cubatabaco – was sold to a Hong Kong consortium in which Chen controlled almost a third of the shares. The remaining quarter, the FT now reveals, belonged to Chinese energy magnate Zhang Hongwei. Chen Zhi’s obsession with breaking into London’s elite – which did not accept a Chinese millionaire the way it would a millionaire from any other Western country – led him to use the Cuban brand as a status symbol.
Chen Zhi’s obsession with breaking into London’s elite – which did not accept a Chinese millionaire the way it would a millionaire from any other Western country – led him to use the Cuban brand as a status symbol
Before the Chinese businessman arrived at Habanos, the brand reported stable annual revenues of five hundred million dollars, the FT notes. Afterward, by 2022, the money
began to surge, reaching 827 million in 2024. The newspaper cites another surprising figure: the brand doubled its prices in 2023 and raised them more moderately afterward – a Cohiba Behike 52 that sold for 55 euros in January 2022 reached 230 euros by January 2026.
To arrive at that point, the FT reconstructs Chen’s biography. He first arrived in Havana in 2022, accompanying the entourage of the prime minister of Cambodia, the country where he had become a naturalized citizen. There he had built good relationships, including with relatives of the government elite, and made his fortune, which, according to his lawyers, came from good management of real estate businesses. For the United States, however, he is “involved in illicit activities.”
Be that as it may, Chen moved to the United Kingdom, but the luxurious buildings and offices he bought did nothing to impress the British. But Chen – the FT says – “had a secret weapon in his seduction campaign: Cuban cigars.” The report contains several anecdotes that illustrate this, such as a visit by journalists to one of the businessman’s warehouses, where they found abundant boxes of Cuban cigars in the hallway.
Sandy Zhou, sent to London as Chen’s emissary and identified by the United States as a collaborator in the Prince Group’s “corrupt and criminal activities,” told Laurence Davis that the businessman wanted to create a smokers’ club in the United Kingdom with a membership fee of 100,000 pounds, although this never materialized and, according to his spokespeople, never went beyond a comment, with no business plan. “I think he saw it as a great opportunity. All those rich and famous businessmen from around the world were going to be here, they would go to his club and sit at his table,” Davis says.
Charlie Minato, co-founder of the specialized website Halfwheel, based in the United States, also speaks about the economic leap in Cuban cigar prices, citing the annual charity auction gala as an example. “There was a time when these humidors sold for between 150,000 and 200,000 dollars. But then Middle Eastern buyers appeared and prices skyrocketed: 400,000 and 500,000 dollars,” he recalls. Later would come the record of 2.6 million dollars for a single box of 550 cigars.
By that point, Chen had already turned the Cuban cigar into a highly coveted product among the Chinese. Mitchell Orchant, founder of the British tobacconist chain C.Gars, recalls that they then began to be sold as luxury gifts. “They would come and take 100 boxes at once.” Although he spoke to them about the merits of the tobacco, the customers would respond, “No, I smoke other brands, but this one is perfect for gift-giving.”
“They would come and take 100 boxes at once.” Although he spoke to them about the merits of the tobacco, the customers would respond, “No, I smoke other brands, but this one is perfect for gift-giving.”
In April 2022 – the text continues – Habanos decreed that global prices would be tied to those in Hong Kong, among the most expensive in the world due to its high taxes. “Cuba hopes to eliminate this gray market and reposition Cohiba and Trinidad as super-luxury brands, accessible only to those with very high purchasing power,” a retailer told his customers at the time.
London businessmen note that it was a boom time, despite initial fears over the price hikes. Consumers who already sought status now valued the brand even more. Davis notes that one Chinese customer spent 120,000 pounds in a single purchase – a sales volume that for him would normally represent “an extraordinary two weeks.” Habanos’ revenue rose 45% between 2021 and 2024, and everything seemed to be going well. But the empire began to crumble, first with the sanctions imposed on Chen – by the United Kingdom and the United States in October 2025 and by the EU in July of this year, which has contributed to the suspension of the Swedish license of Elite Trading Scandinavia AB, which distributed the product – and the accusations against him. A New York court charged the businessman with having turned the Prince Group into “one of the largest transnational criminal organizations in Asia” and found that his workers in Cambodia were victims of trafficking.
On January 6, 2026, Chen was extradited from Cambodia to China, where, according to court documents, not even his lawyers have been able to contact him, the FT notes, adding that a judge in the British Virgin Islands appointed provisional liquidators for 30 companies linked to Chen and the Prince Group, among them Simply Advanced, through which he controlled nearly a third of Habanos’ shares. The tobacco business is not mentioned in any case against Chen, but since the liquidators are seeking a new owner for the company, it is believed that the magnate will soon be out of the consortium.
Even so, the damage to the brand is already a fact. “Before [2020], I smoked Cuban cigars 95% of the time. Now I smoke Cuban cigars 40% of the time, if I can even get them. We have people who smoke two or three cigars a day. Their bill has gone from 55-60 pounds to 120-130 pounds. What they’ve done is cut back their consumption and start smoking Nicaraguan cigars, and now I think there’s no turning back,” Davis says.
Today, the world’s leading exporter is the Dominican Republic, with 8.4 billion units a year compared to 70 million Cuban cigars
The businessman is referring to new brands that have emerged on the continent through the work of Cuban exiles. Those interviewed cannot stop emphasizing the distinctive qualities of Cuban tobacco. “It’s the most incredible symbol of capitalism produced in one of the last bastions of communism. It’s one of those strange things, right? They make the best cigars in the world,” says Orchant. “In most cases, I can tell within 90 seconds whether a cigar is Cuban or not. Often I can do it even before lighting it. There’s something different about that tobacco; it has a particular sweetness,” Minato notes, estimating that tens of thousands of people smoke a Cuban cigar in the United States every week “at the very least,” even though their sale is not legal there.
The industry, however, has remained frozen in time. “There’s been no investment; they still plant by hand,” Davis says. There are also the consequences of the fuel blockade. “This isn’t the first time we’ve had supply shortages, but this time it’s a bit more complicated. The cigars are still being made in the factories every day, the workers are bused to the factories… the problem lies in exporting the product,” Orchant notes.
Today, the world’s leading exporter is the Dominican Republic, with 8.4 billion units a year compared to 70 million Cuban cigars. My Father Cigars has plants in Honduras and Nicaragua; the company was founded by the descendants of a Cuban cigar roller – José Pepín García – who emigrated to Miami in 2003. According to Davis, its capacity is 85 million cigars a year.
Translated by GH.
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