China anti-smoking legislation draws plaudits, implementation concerns

A newly published draft regulation on tobacco control by China's State Council has been applauded by many who see it as an epoch-making step forward in the country's anti-smoking drive.

The draft was released by the State Council's legislative affairs office on Monday for public consultation. It bans all forms of tobacco advertising, sponsorship, promotion of tobacco products and certain smoking scenes in films and TV shows.

Yang Gonghuan, deputy head of Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, said it is the first time China has considered state-level legislation on tobacco control, which has demonstrates the country's great determination on the issue.

She said: "The draft has clearly listed a wide range of public places where smoking is prohibited, and the scope is much wider than those stipulated in other relevant laws and regulations."

According to the draft, smoking is banned in all kinds of indoor public places and outdoor space in kindergartens, schools, colleges, women and children's hospitals, fitness venues, as well as the waiting areas of public transportation.

The new rule also asks cigarette producers to add written and visual health warning signs to cigarette packages.

Xu Zhaorui, director of health education center of Changchun City in Jilin Province, said the exported products by the Chinese cigarette brands have added health warnings on their packages, while such practice has been hardly applied to products sold domestically.

LONG-WAITED RULE

As the world's largest tobacco maker and consumer, China has more than 300 million smokers and another 740 million people exposed to second-hand smoke each year.