Submitted by Andy Travis on
China is the world’s largest consumer and producer of tobacco, with over 300 million smokers and 43% of the world’s cigarette production, according to the American Cancer Society and the World Lung Foundation. Tobacco causes around 1.2 million deaths annually, predicted to rise to 3.5 million by 2030. One problem for prevention is the huge government-run tobacco monopoly, worth 865 billion yuan ($142.5 billion) from taxes and profit in 2012. Government officials are looking at ways of tackling the problem, including accelerating a ban on smoking in public places. An elite Chinese Communist Party think tank has recently called for higher tobacco taxes, halting government financing to tobacco companies and encouraging them to find alternative business models. Nearly nine out of 10 Chinese children aged 5 and 6 are able to identify at least one cigarette brand, according to a recent study by Johns Hopkins University. 'Rather than thinking "I’m going to be Superman," young boys are aspiring to smoke,' said Bernhard Schwartländer, the World Health Organization’s representative in China.
Links:
- China eyes smoking ban - Wall Street Journal