Nearly 90 percent of Chinese railways are subject to anti-smoking regulations, but enforcement remains poor, particularly on slower services, Wednesday's China Daily reported.
State and local tobacco control policies require that station waiting areas, platforms and train cars be smoke free.
But compliance is far from satisfactory, according to research released by Yang Jie, deputy director of tobacco control for the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, during a symposium earlier this week, the paper reported.
Health officials and experts at the gathering, held by the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, called for tougher enforcement of tobacco control laws and regulations.
Currently, 21 cities in China ban smoking in indoor public areas, with the latest regulation taking effect in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. Another five cities have prohibited tobacco use on public transportation, according to Yang.
China prohibits smoking on airlines and high-speed trains, but slower trains that carry more than one-third of the total 3 billion train passengers in China still have smokers on a daily basis, according to the association.
