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Among the many things in the world at which China ranks number one， smoking is perhaps the most undignified. The number of Chinese smokers totals 300 million， roughly equivalent to the entire U.S. population， and one third of the global smoking population. The prevalence of smoking as a habit leaves at least 740 million non-smokers regularly exposed to secondhand smoke and 1.4 million Chinese die from smoking-related diseases every year on the mainland.
With a determination to reduce the number of smokers， Chinese authorities have begun to require officials around the country to set a good example so as to support its tobacco-control campaign.
According to a circular released on December 29 last year by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council， China’s cabinet， Party and government officials are not allowed to smoke in schools， hospitals， sports venues， on public transport vehicles， or any other public place where smoking is banned.
The circular also bans government functionaries from smoking or offering cigarettes to others at work or during other official activities， including meetings and business dinners.
Other requirements include： The sale of tobacco products and advertisements will no longer be allowed in Party and government offices； and prominent notices announcing smoking bans must be displayed in meeting rooms， reception offices， passageways， cafeterias and restrooms.
Yang Gonghuan， Professor of Peking Union Medical College and former Deputy Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention， believes that the circular is a landmark in the country’s journey toward an effective tobacco-control system.
“The circular can be regarded as a political commitment made by central authorities. Such a vow regarding tobacco control is unprecedented，” Yang said.
An opportunity
According to statistics from the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control， 61 percent of male Party and government officials in the country are habitual smokers， and 52.7 percent of them say that they have never attempted quitting.
In response to the latest smoking ban， an anonymous official from central China’s Henan Province was quoted by Beijing Times as saying that “the policy should not be implemented hastily，” as exchanging cigarettes has for a long time been considered standard practice among officials.
Despite the skepticism， the National Health and Family Planning Commission has vowed to build a smoke-free social environment with intensified tobacco control advertising and health education that will help raise social awareness about the harm tobacco causes. On January 1， 2014， Mao Qun’an， the commission’s spokesman， said that his commission will coordinate with other government departments to promote legislation for tobacco control.
Li Tong， a county official in southeast China’s Fujian Province， said that the effect of the circular is already being felt. “It was habit to exchange cigarettes before a meeting began， and meeting rooms used to be full of smoke when officials gathered. But now， top county leaders have taken the lead in putting out cigarettes before entering meeting rooms， and other participants have followed，” Li said. Similar progress has also been reported in other places.
In Nanchang， capital of Jiangxi Province， or- ganizers of the local legislative session， which was held on January 8-12， displayed about 20 posters emphasizing the smoking ban in meeting rooms， lobbies， corridors and rest areas. The posters were put up to remind participants， many of whom were local officials，not to light up， said Wu Xincai， an official with the Standing Committee of the Nanchang Municipal People’s Congress， the city’s legislature.
In 2003， China signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control （FCTC） and it became effective in the country in January 2006. The FCTC requires a reduction in tobacco supply and consumption， as well as a total smoking ban in workplaces， public venues and public transportation by January 2011. But this hasn’t happened in China.
To show its determination to press ahead with the issue， in its 12th Five-Year Plan （2011-15）， the Chinese Government promised that smoking in public places will be banned outright by 2015.
However， a report released by ThinkTank in early last December found that the production turnover of cigarettes on the Chinese mainland had increased by nearly 50 percent over the past decade. In 2012 alone， 2.58 trillion cigarettes were produced in China.
Meanwhile， the consumption of tobacco in China rose 41.8 percent in the same period， while global consumption declined around 10 percent.
China’s inability to protect its people from the smoking epidemic has tarnished the country’s image abroad， said Xu Guihua， Deputy Director of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control.
A long-term campaign
According to a WHO tobacco control assessment report， China ranks in the bottom 10 percent of all FCTC signatory countries and regions in terms of implementing smoking bans at public places and workplaces. The country did even worse in its efforts to ban tobacco advertising， promotion and sponsorship， Xu said.
An international survey of six countries found that 86 percent of Chinese children polled could recognize at least one cigarette brand， higher than in Russia， India， Pakistan， Nigeria and Brazil.
Tobacco companies have moved online to get around bans on tobacco product advertising in conventional media such as newspapers and broadcasting， said Wu Yiqun， Deputy Director of the ThinkTank.
Wu cited the website Yanyue.cn， where users can participate in a jigsaw puzzle contest. When the picture is completed， the logo of a tobacco brand appears， she said， adding that winners receive free packs of cigarettes.
Currently， more than 10 Chinese cities have smoking control regulations， all of which ban smoking in public buildings， according to Wang Qingbin， an associate professor at Beijing-based China University of Political Science and Law. “But implementation of the rules is unsatisfactory， mostly because there is a lack of either enforcement or awareness of them，” he commented.
Another complaint of Wang is that municipal-level rules mainly target businesses such as restaurants， Internet bars， hotels and movie theaters， but do not focus on individual smokers.
In Tianshui， northwest China’s Gansu Province， when a business applies for a basic hygiene certificate， it is required to sign a guarantee that it will ban smoking indoors. It must also submit a plan to maintain hygiene， including how they will work to control tobacco use， according to Liu Jiong， a local health official.
“Health inspectors have fined some business owners when they failed to maintain the ban， but there are no specifications on how to punish smokers，” Liu said.
China’s health authorities are working on a law that will ban smoking in all indoor public venues while clarifying the punishments for doing so， said Mao.
At a press conference on January 8， 2014， Mao revealed that work on a draft of the law began last year and that the commission is working hard to get national lawmakers to issue laws on smoking control with stronger powers than the current regulations have.
According to Mao， regulations banning smoking in public venues are effective in many places but they are vague on the punishments， so a new law that clarifies them is necessary.
“Compared with the damage to health caused by smoking， the economic benefits brought on by tobacco are trivial，” Mao said. “So we are promoting legislation on smoking control to tackle this.”
With a determination to reduce the number of smokers， Chinese authorities have begun to require officials around the country to set a good example so as to support its tobacco-control campaign.
According to a circular released on December 29 last year by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council， China’s cabinet， Party and government officials are not allowed to smoke in schools， hospitals， sports venues， on public transport vehicles， or any other public place where smoking is banned.
The circular also bans government functionaries from smoking or offering cigarettes to others at work or during other official activities， including meetings and business dinners.
Other requirements include： The sale of tobacco products and advertisements will no longer be allowed in Party and government offices； and prominent notices announcing smoking bans must be displayed in meeting rooms， reception offices， passageways， cafeterias and restrooms.
Yang Gonghuan， Professor of Peking Union Medical College and former Deputy Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention， believes that the circular is a landmark in the country’s journey toward an effective tobacco-control system.
“The circular can be regarded as a political commitment made by central authorities. Such a vow regarding tobacco control is unprecedented，” Yang said.
An opportunity
According to statistics from the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control， 61 percent of male Party and government officials in the country are habitual smokers， and 52.7 percent of them say that they have never attempted quitting.
In response to the latest smoking ban， an anonymous official from central China’s Henan Province was quoted by Beijing Times as saying that “the policy should not be implemented hastily，” as exchanging cigarettes has for a long time been considered standard practice among officials.
Despite the skepticism， the National Health and Family Planning Commission has vowed to build a smoke-free social environment with intensified tobacco control advertising and health education that will help raise social awareness about the harm tobacco causes. On January 1， 2014， Mao Qun’an， the commission’s spokesman， said that his commission will coordinate with other government departments to promote legislation for tobacco control.
Li Tong， a county official in southeast China’s Fujian Province， said that the effect of the circular is already being felt. “It was habit to exchange cigarettes before a meeting began， and meeting rooms used to be full of smoke when officials gathered. But now， top county leaders have taken the lead in putting out cigarettes before entering meeting rooms， and other participants have followed，” Li said. Similar progress has also been reported in other places.
In Nanchang， capital of Jiangxi Province， or- ganizers of the local legislative session， which was held on January 8-12， displayed about 20 posters emphasizing the smoking ban in meeting rooms， lobbies， corridors and rest areas. The posters were put up to remind participants， many of whom were local officials，not to light up， said Wu Xincai， an official with the Standing Committee of the Nanchang Municipal People’s Congress， the city’s legislature.
In 2003， China signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control （FCTC） and it became effective in the country in January 2006. The FCTC requires a reduction in tobacco supply and consumption， as well as a total smoking ban in workplaces， public venues and public transportation by January 2011. But this hasn’t happened in China.
To show its determination to press ahead with the issue， in its 12th Five-Year Plan （2011-15）， the Chinese Government promised that smoking in public places will be banned outright by 2015.
However， a report released by ThinkTank in early last December found that the production turnover of cigarettes on the Chinese mainland had increased by nearly 50 percent over the past decade. In 2012 alone， 2.58 trillion cigarettes were produced in China.
Meanwhile， the consumption of tobacco in China rose 41.8 percent in the same period， while global consumption declined around 10 percent.
China’s inability to protect its people from the smoking epidemic has tarnished the country’s image abroad， said Xu Guihua， Deputy Director of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control.
A long-term campaign
According to a WHO tobacco control assessment report， China ranks in the bottom 10 percent of all FCTC signatory countries and regions in terms of implementing smoking bans at public places and workplaces. The country did even worse in its efforts to ban tobacco advertising， promotion and sponsorship， Xu said.
An international survey of six countries found that 86 percent of Chinese children polled could recognize at least one cigarette brand， higher than in Russia， India， Pakistan， Nigeria and Brazil.
Tobacco companies have moved online to get around bans on tobacco product advertising in conventional media such as newspapers and broadcasting， said Wu Yiqun， Deputy Director of the ThinkTank.
Wu cited the website Yanyue.cn， where users can participate in a jigsaw puzzle contest. When the picture is completed， the logo of a tobacco brand appears， she said， adding that winners receive free packs of cigarettes.
Currently， more than 10 Chinese cities have smoking control regulations， all of which ban smoking in public buildings， according to Wang Qingbin， an associate professor at Beijing-based China University of Political Science and Law. “But implementation of the rules is unsatisfactory， mostly because there is a lack of either enforcement or awareness of them，” he commented.
Another complaint of Wang is that municipal-level rules mainly target businesses such as restaurants， Internet bars， hotels and movie theaters， but do not focus on individual smokers.
In Tianshui， northwest China’s Gansu Province， when a business applies for a basic hygiene certificate， it is required to sign a guarantee that it will ban smoking indoors. It must also submit a plan to maintain hygiene， including how they will work to control tobacco use， according to Liu Jiong， a local health official.
“Health inspectors have fined some business owners when they failed to maintain the ban， but there are no specifications on how to punish smokers，” Liu said.
China’s health authorities are working on a law that will ban smoking in all indoor public venues while clarifying the punishments for doing so， said Mao.
At a press conference on January 8， 2014， Mao revealed that work on a draft of the law began last year and that the commission is working hard to get national lawmakers to issue laws on smoking control with stronger powers than the current regulations have.
According to Mao， regulations banning smoking in public venues are effective in many places but they are vague on the punishments， so a new law that clarifies them is necessary.
“Compared with the damage to health caused by smoking， the economic benefits brought on by tobacco are trivial，” Mao said. “So we are promoting legislation on smoking control to tackle this.”