In 1991, Huaiyin Cigarette Factory decided to use this plum tree full of flower buds as the main pattern, specially developed and produced a kind of cigarette, taking "Lamei, a product in flowers; Prime Minister, its virtue and one product" means, hence the name "Yipin Mei".

Since 1998, Huaiyin Cigarette Factory has successively launched the "Yipinmei Project" and "Yipinmei New Century Project" with the main goal of cultivating large-scale brands and creating famous and excellent cigarettes. In the year the project was launched, the sales volume of "Yipinmei" reached 80,000 boxes, becoming the largest single brand sales in the Jiangsu market. After several years of efforts, "Yipinmei" was identified by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration as one of the 36 famous and excellent cigarettes in China, and ranked among the big tobacco brands in China. In 2006, the production and sales volume of "Yipinmei" increased from 80,000 boxes to 395,000 boxes, and the economic efficiency of the enterprise also developed rapidly, and the tax profit increased from less than 700 million yuan in 1997 to nearly 2.8 billion yuan.