The Chinese government will implement provisions of an international treaty calling for curbs on cigarette advertising and sales following passage of the agreement by the National People's Congress, the country's legislative body.
Provisions of the treaty are spelled out in the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. In general, the treaty requires signatories to enact certain bans on tobacco advertising and outlawing cigarette vending machines.
Specifically, China will be required to ban cigarette ads on radio, television, the print media and on the Internet within five years. Tobacco companies will also be prohibited from sponsoring international events and other activities, according to a report in the Scotsman newspaper.
In all, 168 nations have signed the treaty, says information on WHO's website. The United States became a signatory May 10, 2004.
Some 36 percent of China's population – or about 320 million people – are believed to be smokers. Among that figure are some 5 million children.
The Scotsman said Chinese law prohibits the sale of cigarettes to minors, but the law does not spell out any punishment.
Researchers say an estimated 1.2 million people die each year in China due to smoking- and tobacco-related illnesses. They also say that, over the next 20 years or so, about one-third of Chinese men will give in to nicotine's effects.
At present, smoking in public places and office buildings is commonplace, the Scotsman said.
Some observers see irony in China's decision to implement the international ban, considering Beijing's criticism of the U.S. and other countries for allegedly interfering in China's "internal affairs" regarding Taiwan.
The island republic is considered by the communist government on the mainland to be little more than a renegade colony.