Smoking restrictions to be enforced

Health

30 May 2007

Chinese authorities announced plans to ban smoking in some public places and require sellers of cigarettes to put up signs restricting sales to minors and check for identification. The plan is due in part to a global treaty backed by the United Nations aimed at addressing smoking, which China signed in 2003, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Ministry of Health warned that 100,000 people die of every year on the mainland due to passive smoking, according to the South China Morning Post. The World Health Organization estimated there are 360 million smokers on the mainland, of whom more than 50 million are juveniles. Millions of Chinese die from smoking-related diseases every year. Vendors violating the restrictions would be penalized, state media reported.  Tobacco is a major source of tax revenue, accounting for 7.7% of central government revenue last year. The industry is viewed by economic planners as central to development in some of China's poorest regions.