China's Indoor Smoking Ban Finally Goes Into Effect

BEIJING -- China's latest push to ban smoking in indoor public venues came into effect Sunday, but the vaguely defined expanded rules were not expected to dramatically reduce the country's heavy tobacco addiction.

Smoking, which is linked to the deaths of at least 1 million people in China every year, is one of the greatest health threats the country faces, government statistics show. Nearly 30 percent of adults in China smoke, about 300 million people – a number roughly equal to the entire U.S. population.

The Health Ministry in late March released amended guidelines on the management of public places that now ban smoking in more venues like hotels and restaurants, though still excluding workplaces. The rules were set for implementation on May 1.

But state media reports have cast doubt on the effectiveness of the ban, with the official Xinhua News Agency citing experts as saying that it is likely to be ignored by smokers and operators of public places because it fails to specify punishments for violators.

China has already missed a Jan. 9, 2011, deadline to ban smoking at public indoor venues, in accordance with a WHO-backed global anti-tobacco treaty. Experts say huge revenues from the state-owned tobacco monopoly hinders anti-smoking measures.

Dr. Yang Gonghuan, director of China's National Office of Tobacco Control, said despite problems with the new rules, she remained hopeful that they could raise awareness of tobacco control efforts. She said her office is not responsible for implementing the rules.

"I also acknowledge that there are imperfections in the Health Ministry's current guidelines, and that preparations for carrying it out have also been insufficient," Yang said. "But I think we should all come together to help push forward the regulation's implementation."

The rules are part of the Health Ministry's regulations on health management in public places – a set of rules that also covers areas including ventilation, use of disinfectants, air quality and pest control.

Enforcement of such regulations is bound to be an issue in a society in which smoking is so entrenched that almost half of all male doctors smoke and cigarette cartons are commonly exchanged as gifts. People commonly light up in hospital waiting rooms, video game arcades and even on domestic flights, despite regulations from 1991 that prohibit smoking in such places.

The revised regulations call for no-smoking signs to be put up in public places and require owners or managers of venues considered public places to allocate staff to stop patrons from smoking.

Comments

[HerrMonk]

11:55 AM on 05/03/2011

That's what authoritarian governments do.

[allperils]

02:47 PM on 05/02/2011

How do you know when a country is powerful and important?

When you have everyday Americans reading and talking about you.

Did you know about 715 out of every 100,000 people in the US are behind bars compared with only 119 out of every 100,000 in China?

[kyeshinka]

01:45 PM on 05/02/2011

I can just picture all the sanctimonious American and Canadian expats trying to shame the locals for defying the bans. It's hard not to hit them, or tell the proprieter in Mandarin he or she's been stealing. If this is happening in Shanghai, then Seoul isn't far behind.

[allperils]

02:38 PM on 05/02/2011

"Imagine" is the key word.

Because locals don't pay much attention to Expats...and Expats do not act like anything you described above. Usually, it's the EXPATS are smoking and drinking in the bar areas.

It's up to the authorities to enforce smoke bans, not loser Expats! haha

[LindaShanghai]

05:00 AM on 05/02/2011

The air quality is particularly heinous in Shanghai today. Do you suppose it's because everyone is smoking outside today?Actually, I didn't notice the smoking ban being enforced in the shops I was in today.

[emsique]

03:48 AM on 05/02/2011

This smoking ban is just a baby step. It won't be enforced in the Chinese city where I live, I'd bet big bucks on it. The revenue from tobacco tax is very big, and smoking is a huge part of the culture here. I've seen guys light up in hospitals, and even once on a plane, but he got in a lot of trouble for it.
It's a guy thing. In China about 65% of the men smoke vs. 4% of the women. Men die at a much younger age than women as a result. It helps to balance out the gender discrepancy brought about by selective abortions that favor male babies over female. It's a very complex society that requires very complex management, and tobacco use plays its own role.
http://emsique.blogspot.com/2011/03/smoking-ban.html

[allperils]

02:39 PM on 05/02/2011

Go downstairs to your main lobby and peer outside. There is probably 5-10 smokers standing there right now, ignoring the "do not smoke here" sign.

[conservicide]

02:06 AM on 05/02/2011

tobacco execs should be brought to a tall tree and shown a breath-taking view.

[OldTulsan]

01:44 AM on 05/02/2011

Tobacco revenues or peoples lives ?...

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aUavdwGtN3Qs
Death of 3.5 Million Chinese Is Dismal Economics: William Pesek - Bloomberg.com

"Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Anyone who thinks smoking isn’t government’s business should consider one number: 3.5 million.

That’s how many people in the second-biggest economy will die each year from tobacco use by 2030, according to a report by prominent Chinese health experts and economists. More than lives will go up in smoke. So will productivity, public money and growth.

China immediately should raise cigarette prices, increase health awareness and ban smoking in indoor public places. Yet instead of acting to protect consumers’ health, greed is distracting Chinese leaders from doing the right thing.

Call it China’s fiscal addiction. The huge revenues rolling in from state-owned tobacco producers are trumping the desperate need for anti-smoking measures. Never mind that untold millions of lives are at stake in the nation with the largest number of smokers. Smoking is big, big business.

China isn’t alone here. From Tokyo to Jakarta, government policies are putting tobacco profiteers ahead of public health. This isn’t just shameful; it’s also dismal economics that imperils the region’s future..."

[Gus Adaire]

01:16 AM on 05/02/2011

This will cause global; warming.

[OneTop]

01:14 AM on 05/02/2011

yuē sè fū
约 瑟 夫

Camel

is getting kicked out doors .....

[OMGimhotep]

01:08 AM on 05/02/2011

Yesterday I was in a very cosy little restaurant in Guangzhou. I asked to bring me an ashtray - no problem.
I like those ways of the Chinese. No ban can come into effect immediately in one day, or one year, or a century...

[allperils]

02:42 PM on 05/02/2011

When will they ban the use of styrofoam in the US or Canada?

[emerywood]

11:45 PM on 05/01/2011

When are they going to ban foul language which I understand is very prevalent in China ? I presumed they had already ban spitting in public ? How about queing up for buses and trains ? I think it will take
at least 20 years to break these bad habits.

[lookingforintegrity]

12:09 AM on 05/02/2011

It's hard to believe they have banned spitting in public. My experience is that about every 10 feet, in an urban area, one comes across a wiggly pile of mucus. Sorry to be so graphic... it's true, though.

[freedom4allau]

02:57 AM on 05/02/2011

You're right - I've been witness to it innumerable times the past couple of weeks.

[Hehlol]

12:53 AM on 05/02/2011

Foul language is prevalent everywhere. What the hell are you even trying to say?

[Amalek]

11:13 PM on 05/01/2011

China tends to adopt most Western health and safety laws.  The building codes are basically the same as the U.S.  Traffic laws are identical, now smoking.

The issue is which they choose to enforce.  They can be quite selective about that, with most traffic laws ignored, building codes ignored when political pressure is brought to bear, safety and health laws likewise.  

This kind of thing is likely to be strictly enforced in the central business district of Beijing, ignored most everywhere else.

[BannedInBoston]

10:53 PM on 05/01/2011

Lookin' cool, lol....

[stape45]

10:18 PM on 05/01/2011

More people breathe that stuff outside, than inside. But maybe that's the whole idea.

[mattsm84]

10:05 PM on 05/01/2011

"I also acknowledge that there are imperfections in the Health Ministry's current guidelines, and that preparations for carrying it out have also been insufficient,"

Thats it in a nut shell. Nobody is going to in force this ban, and having it on the books is a way to not lose face in front of international countries and organizations like the WHO. However, as far as enforcement is concerned I can tell you that the beat cops, which is where the rubber meets the road on something like this, just aren't interested in issuing citations because a coworker or an immediate superior or even somebody further up the latter may have accepted a bribe from the restaurant or what ever else and fining them would cause the colleague to lose face, which is something they take much more seriously than government mandates issued to please outsiders.