JUST SAY NO: A citizen signs a poster in support of tobacco control during World No Tobacco Day in Changchun, Jilin Province (SHAO SHOUZHI)

This situation makes the Chinese Government attach great importance to tobacco control, actively supporting and participating in the formulation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organization. The convention became effective in China as of January 9, 2006, and will be comprehensively implemented across the country by 2011.

Statistics released by the CATC show that in the past two years China has been strengthening its efforts in tobacco control.

From 2007 to 2008, China ran a campaign promoting a "tobacco-free Olympic Games" in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang, Qingdao and Qinhuangdao.

On May 1, 2008, Provisions on the Scope of No-Smoking Public Places in Beijing came into effect, expanding the public smoking ban into the workplace and granting the owners of public places the right to carry out the decree and protect the public from tobacco harm. At the same time, the provisions also gave every citizen the right to refuse secondhand smoke. Cities like Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenyang have also begun the process of banning tobacco in public places. Now Beijing is evaluating the results of the ban in the past year and preparing to revise and improve the policy.

Although China got a late start in tobacco control, it is the general trend to legislate tobacco bans in public places and it enjoys wide public support.

The Chinese Government is also promoting the formulation of the Smoking Control Law, which is expected to be unveiled in the near future. Currently there is no national law for tobacco control in China.

Reality check

In spite of these efforts, tobacco consumption in China remains a pressing issue.

China comes first in the world in eight tobacco-related areas: sowing area of flue-cured tobacco, output volume of flue-cured tobacco, growth speed of flue-cured tobacco, production and sales volume of cigarettes, growth speed of cigarette sales, number of smokers, growth in the number of smokers and growth of tobacco tax revenue. China also ranks first in the world in terms of death rates from tobacco-related diseases.

Beijing is one Chinese city that has done fairly well in tobacco control. The Research Center for the Health Development (RCHD), a think tank, held a seminar on accelerating a full tobacco ban on June 16 in Beijing, inviting public health experts to comment on the first year of the municipal public smoking ban. The experts said that although Beijing has made some progress, there are still many deficiencies.

According to the experts, judging from the experience of the past year, the primary problem is that the public and workplace tobacco bans are not enforced.

A survey of Internet bars led by public health expert Zeng Guang showed that 21 percent of netizens in Internet bars are smokers and that none of the surveyed bars have a separate smoking room or smoking area. In all the bars there are people smoking but no bar operators dissuade them.

The RCHD has also organized public and private investigations at universities, primary and middle schools and public places, finding that the tobacco ban in restaurants is poorly implemented. In some schools, especially middle schools, there are teachers smoking, and some students are smokers too; and stores near schools never refuse students who want to buy cigarettes.

Another deficiency is that there is no supervision mechanism. Who is responsible for supervising the tobacco ban in public places? Who is responsible for supervising it in the workplace? Who is supposed to supervise the responsible persons? How should authorities punish those who smoke in public places and who is supposed to enforce the punishment? None of this is stated in the provisions.

In the meantime, the experts point out that the present interim measure of setting up smoking rooms or smoking areas has been a failure. According to the interim measure, many restaurants in Beijing have divided into smoking areas and non-smoking areas, but in effect they have created a smoking area and a secondhand smoking area, and the non-smoking area does not exist. Moreover, the establishment of a smoking room does not necessarily reduce exposure to secondhand smoke. Even in modern airport terminals, smoking room doors are always open.

Tobacco ban troubles also result from misunderstandings among smokers. Many of them think that smoking can reduce fatigue, revitalize them, help them make friends or inspire them. Some smokers even think that smoking wards off mosquitoes and protects against diseases by combating poison with poison.

Some local governments are passive in tobacco control, because tobacco and tobacco products generate huge tax and fiscal revenues and push up their GDP growth, while tobacco control would reduce local fiscal revenue.

According to statistics released by the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation, in 2008, the tobacco industry generated 450 billion yuan ($66 billion) in taxes and profits, up 15.73 percent year on year.

Figures from the State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau show that in 2009, taxes and profits contributed by the tobacco industry will grow more than 10 percent. This is in striking contrast to the goals of tobacco control.

The FCTC will be implemented in China by 2011, which means that in the next 18 months China has to fulfill its commitment to a full tobacco ban in indoor workplaces, public transport facilities and indoor public places. This will be an important test for a country that has seen only limited success so far.