Public spaces means offices or other working environments as well as public transportation, schools, daycare centers, youth activity centers, gyms, historical sites, and hospitals. (Yes, up until now it wasn’t illegal to smoke inside a hospital).

While Beijing first proposed a ban in 2008, it was vigorously opposed by China’s powerful cigarette industry. China’s tobacco companies have been able to, for the most part, keep warning labels off their products and ensure cigarettes are sold at low prices. Chinese cigarette manufacturers continue to provide incentives to the government by earning huge revenues and employing a vast number of workers. It therefore remains to be seen how strictly the new smoking ban will be enforced.

China is the world leader in tobacco use, with over 300 million cigarette smokers. Cigarette use has long been entrenched in Chinese culture as a social custom, with cigarettes commonly given as gifts.

Chinese officials were banned from smoking in public places last year, while Chinese films and television programs were banned from depicting characters who smoke.

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China’s Central Television airs scenes of Deng Xiaoping smoking in his autobiographic TV series called Deng Xiaoping at Historical Crossroads

China’s push to crack down on smoking is reaching into the country’s entertainment industry. The government is set to ban characters in movies and TV shows from taking drags on cigarettes, according to a new draft regulation on cigarette control introduced by the State Council on November 24.

According to the document, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) will be responsible for “supervising and managing” content on shows that involve smoking.

A broadcaster can be fined from RMB 5,000 to RMB 30,000 if the media censor finds a movie or television show that broadcasts scenes containing cigarette smoking. Shows that contain heavy smoking scenes could even be suspended and taken off the air, according to the report.

In addition to smoking scenes on big screens, the restrictions also extend to public spaces, cigarette commercials and vending machines. If the regulation is passed, China would ban cigarette commercials, smoking in indoor public spaces, and prohibit public servants from smoking in public.

Chinese actor in the movie Let the Bullet Fly

But whether the regulation translates into tangible results is still a big question mark. One Weibo user called LL宇H wrote, “All the scenes showing Grandpa Mao (Mao Zedong) and Mister Deng (Deng Xiaoping) smoking will be scrubbed off the screen? What does this mean for their personal characters?” Another questioned if the regulation is only scratching the surface rather than dealing with the real problem. 泡泡匠 commented, “If you really have the guts, why not just ban people from growing tobacco? This is really self-deceiving…” Given the millions earned in taxes from tobacco sales, this seems unlikely. User 小凝和轩宝 wrote, “There won’t be any tobacco trade if there is no demand! They can close down these giant tobacco companies first.”

Photos: CCTV, Net Ease 

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(Image from chinamusings.com)

It’s illegal to smoke indoors in Guangzhou, but we’ve all seen it: the niubi guy who puffs away anyway, with smoke wafting over to tables filled with non-smokers.

Currently in Guangzhou, police are ordered to issue a warning to anybody they find violating the city’s smoking by-law, but that could change soon.  China Daily confirmed that the city is studying dispensing with the whole warning thing, and instead reverting directly to an RMB50 fine.

The move makes some sense, as most smokers are likely aware that now, even if caught, they won’t get anything more than a little piece of paper with an official warning on it.  It’s not exactly a strong deterrent.

Smoking, as everybody knows, is still relatively common in bars, clubs, and restaurants across Guangzhou and the PRD even though it’s officially illegal.  China Daily says because of this, many in the City of Five Rams welcome the change:

Chen Wenjie, a Guangzhou office worker, said the draft is an improvement. “But a fine of only 50 yuan for smokers is still not severe enough to deter law breakers,” he said.

Wang Fangwei, a local housewife, said the draft amendment is good, but she does not think it could be fully carried out.

“Many law enforcement agencies in the city are lax on punishment in fighting illegal smoking,” she said.

Also, by the time enforcement authorities arrive, the smokers might have stopped because it takes only two to three minutes to finish a cigarette, she added.

She called for more concrete and effective measures, such as fining the operators of restaurants instead of smokers.

How effective has the current law been?  There have been 1,200 complaints about smoking in non-smoking areas in Guangzhou so far this year.  How many have been fined?  Exactly one.

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