The ban, which came into effect on Monday, will follow a two-step system: first-time offenders of the anti-smoking law will be fined and temporarily banned from buying train tickets. After an unspecified period of time, offenders will have to sign a contract before having their purchasing privileges reinstated. If the offender commits a second smoking offence, they can be banned from purchasing train tickets for life.

The new law will be enforced by the Public Security Bureau.

Smoking on high-speed trains can trigger smoke alarms that can cause the train to slow down or even stop. Over 20 such instances occurred in less than a month aboard trains in Chengdu, Sichuan in January of last year.

This past June, the National Health and Family Planning Commission submitted a draft national ban prohibiting smokers from lighting up in restaurants, bars, schools and hospitals throughout China.

With over half of all men in China estimated to be smokers, cigarette use in China has been blamed for a growing epidemic of smoking-related health problems. A medical study published in the Lancet medical journal suggests that up to a third of all Chinese men will die from smoking unless they immediately quit.

More than 1 million people in China die every year from tobacco-related illnesses.

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“Our estimates suggest that the continued rise in high blood pressure, an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, increasing obesity, and worsening dietary trends will add millions of new cases of heart attacks and stroke over the next two decades,” said lead author Yanping Li, research scientist in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health.

The study made by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology analyzed data on 26,000 people in China from 1991 to 2011 in order to try to predict trends from 2011 to 2031.

There were five million new cases of heart attacks or strokes in 2011. These incidents were caused by high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure, which was linked to 40 percent of cases.

Cardiovascular disease is responsible for 44 percent of all deaths in China of people over 35 in 2011.

“China is facing a rising epidemic of cardiovascular disease and it shows no sign of abating,” said senior author Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard’s Chan School. Hu said Chinese policymakers should promote better eating and exercise habits.

The Chinese diet continues to deteriorate with more people eating red meat, salt, and sugary drinks. At the same time, smoking and a lack of exercise are blamed for causing heart disease.

A 2013 study published by the Lancet medical journal suggested the health profile of China’s citizens has become more similar to developed nations like the USA and the UK. While that comparison means that China saw an increase in life expectancy from 1990 to 2010, the country also saw an increase in non-communicable diseases like heart disease, whose rates have triples over this time period.

Conversely, China’s health profile more resembled Vietnam and Iraq over twenty years ago when it had some of the lowest rates of heart disease and obesity in the world.

This past April, the Lancet said China has the highest number of obese people in the world, accounting for 3.2 million obese men and 46.4 million obese women, signifying the country was facing a health epidemic of obesity-related diseases.

In 2014, nearly 92 million Chinese – almost a tenth of the population – were living with type 2 diabetes.

Meanwhile, Chinese men have one of the highest rates of smoking in the world at 52 percent. Smoking is estimated to be the cause of premature death for a third of all Chinese men under the age of 20 unless they stop smoking.

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Stuck with three roommates who smoke, the student clipped a fan to a window above the entrance of his dorm room. He then fixed a long plastic bag over the window helping the fan to draw air from outside into the bag. He then connected the other end of the plastic bag to a box the student wears over his head, protecting him from the second-hand smoke.

The DIY setup certainly wasn’t expensive. Even the box appears to be re-purposed, originally serving as the box for the fan.

Even if our inventor prefers the confines of his cardboard haven over confronting his roommates, the municipal governments of Beijing and Guangzhou have gone ahead and implemented city-wide indoor smoking bans. Hopefully a proposed nation-wide smoking ban will soon take effect, and this poor soul won’t have to hang-out in his dorm with a box over his head.

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A three year-old child beggar seen smoking cigarettes on the streets of Jiangsu province has outraged Chinese netizens.

The issue has come to national attention in China after a netizen uploaded videos where the child, equipped with his own pack of cigarettes and lighter, is seen lighting up a cigarette and smoking it.

The unidentified child spends his days blocking traffic and begging for money from passing motorists. Estimated to be around three or four year-old, the child sleeps outside at a bus station with his father, whom he accompanies.

The child’s father is said to be addicted to drinking and smoking. A local homeless outreach program said they are familiar with this individual, and say his homelessness is a long, recurring problem. The program also said the father refuses any aid they offer him, but remains unwilling to work.

The boy’s mother is said to have left the family years ago.

Chinese netizens are upset at the father for allowing his son to get into this situation.

“If you are fit and able, one should go work to support one’s family,” wrote one person, while another wrote, “This kind of father should be deprived his right to custody of their child.” Another person said, “I’m heartbroken. It seems like every kind of scum exists in this world.”

Some netizens have more extreme opinions. One person wrote, “I hope that once this kid grows up, he’ll beat his dad everyday to the point that his teeth are littering the floor.” Another person said, “I have no words for the father, but the child is done for.”

Others have suggested that the situation requires society to get involved. One person wrote, “It’s clear that the government isn’t doing its job,” while another wrote, “Child protection services should intervene.”

China has the most smokers in the world, claiming over half of all men in the country. However, the huge numbers of Chinese smokers has led to an epidemic of smoking-related health problems, claiming one million fatalities a year. A recent study has suggested that a third of all Chinese men will die from smoking unless they refrain from picking up the habit.

Anti-smoking efforts in China have raised cigarette taxes and have implemented city-wide public smoking bans in Beijing.

You can watch video of the child smoking here and here.

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A report released earlier this week by the World Health Organization (WHO), claims cigarette sales in China have dropped 3 percent between April 2015 and March 2016 compared to the same period the year before. When looking at the cheapest tobacco products, sales decreased 5.5 percent

WHO China representative Bernhard Schwartlander hailed the decrease as “good news”, noting that lower-income families were impacted the hardest by tobacco-related health problems: “Tobacco use – in particular, the cost of tobacco-related illness such as lung cancer – can plunge people and families into poverty, and make it impossible for others to escape it,” said Schwartlander.

Schwartlander warns that China will face dire health and economic consequences in the years ahead unless it introduces stricter anti-smoking policies and higher cigarette taxes. He wrote last December in a China Daily op-ed, “If tobacco use is not significantly reduced, it will aggravate the economic and social impact of an aging population, increasing the odds of a future economic slowdown, which in turn will pose a significant social challenge.”

Last May, China’s Ministry of Finance raised the wholesale tax on cigarette products from 5 to 11 percent. It was the third increase in cigarette taxes since 2009. Taxes now make up 56 percent of the cost of a pack of cigarettes in the country.

Despite the hikes, Chinese cigarettes are among the cheapest in the world.

Although the single-digit decrease in tobacco purchases may seem small, China remains the world’s leading country in cigarette consumption. With over half of all men in China estimated to be smokers, cigarette use is a huge threat to public health. More than 1 million people in China die every year from tobacco-related illnesses.

A recent study has warned a third of all Chinese men under the age of 20 will die prematurely unless they quit smoking.

China is also the world’s leading producer of cigarettes. Chinese tobacco companies have traditionally enjoyed protection from anti-smoking legislation thanks to the state-owned monopolies that control them. As a result, big tobacco in China contributes an estimated 7 percent to 10 percent of government tax revenue. According to the WHO report, last year’s tax increase on cigarettes resulted in an additional 70 billion yuan ($11 billion) in revenue for the central government.

Other studies have suggested that there has been no decrease in the number of smokers in China. Last December, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention found there were 316 million smokers in China, the same amount as there were in 2010. When accounting for annual population increases, there are actually 15 million more smokers in 2015 than there were five years before.

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Shanghai is set to follow cities like Guangzhou and Beijing, which have enacted smoking bans that prohibit smoking in all public venues and workplaces including bars and restaurants.

Vice director of the Shanghai Health Enhancement Commission Li Zhongyang told a press conference recently that the public is fully in support of an inclusive smoking ban. “Surveys conducted last year found that 94 percent of residents support a complete ban, and the smoking rate in public areas dropped to 13 percent last year from 38 percent before the execution of the current law,” he said.

Plans for a Shanghai smoking ban have long been in the pipeline. Last year, a survey conducted by the Shanghai Health Enhancement Commission that attracted over 25,500 responses found 93 percent of Shanghai residents are in favor of a ban in indoor public areas.

Shanghai’s current anti-smoking regulations only forbid smoking in 13 public spaces such as primary schools, kindergartens and children’s hospitals. Clauses under the current smoking law allow restaurants with 75 seats or more and businesses over 150 square meters in size to designate smoking and non-smoking sections.

With fewer smokers lighting up in Internet cafes, entertainment venues and restaurants, Li says anti-smoking laws are working. And with smoking fines lessening over time, Li said this proves there is a positive result from the law.

Last year, 201 facilities and 148 individuals were fined about 380,000 yuan in total. However, Li pointed out this is but a mere shadow of the total number of transgressions over six years since the law was first implemented. “In the past, local authorities have issued fines totaling 1.9 million yuan (US$290,000) to 971 venues and 482 individuals for violating the laws on smoking,” he said.

Beijingers were initially resistant to the smoking ban. RMB 100,000 in fines were doled out within the first month of the ban, accounting for 40 establishments and 90 individuals.

Despite the bans and taxes levied against smoking in China, cigarette companies in China provide huge incentives to the government by earning between seven and ten percent in tax revenue and employing a vast number of workers. Due to the influence they wield, they are not yet required to issue warning labels on their products.

Furthermore, it’s not clear if these smoking bans are actually stopping Chinese from lighting up. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said last year that in both 2010 and 2015, 27 percent of the population were smokers. Furthermore, Chinese smokers have mistakenly adopted the idea that smoking menthol cigarettes is a “healthier” alternative.

However, medical evidence attesting to the dangers of cigarette smoke continue to mount. A study published in The Lancet medical journal says that a third of all Chinese men under the age of 20 will die prematurely if they do not stop smoking.

More than 1 million people in China die every year in tobacco related illnesses. About 740 million are routinely exposed to secondhand smoke, contributing to another 100,000 deaths annually.

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That’s the consensus of a recent study on adult tobacco use conducted by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the study, China has 316 million smokers accounting for 27 percent of the country’s total population. More significant however is that in 2010, the same percentage of the country were smokers. When you account for annual population increases, there are actually 15 million more smokers in 2015 than there were in 2010.

The survey, which consisted of 15,000 respondents over the age of 15, revealed that 52 percent of all Chinese men smoke, compared with just 3 percent of women. On average, Chinese smoked 15.2 cigarettes per day, compared with 14 in 2010.

The study however wasn’t all doom and gloom. Anti-smoking laws have proven effective at reducing secondhand smoke in China. Since 2010, the number of non-smokers reporting exposure to secondhand smoke in their workplaces has dropped seven points to 54 percent. Meanwhile, exposure to secondhand smoke has been halved in primary and middle schools, and even fell 17 points in government buildings to 38 percent.

The survey also claims exposure rates have fallen in restaurants, hospitals, and on public transit.

16 Chinese cities have instituted smoking bans, including Beijing, although local residents frequently light up in defiance.

More than 1 million people in China die every year in tobacco related illnesses. About 740 million are routinely exposed to secondhand smoke, contributing to another 100,000 deaths annually. A recent study went so far as to suggest that a third of all Chinese men under the age of 20 will die prematurely if they do not stop smoking.

The post Percentage of Chinese That Smoke Unchanged Since 2010 appeared first on The Nanfang.

The production and sale of slim cigarettes have grown at an annual rate of 40 percent since 2007, resulting in the consumption of 15 billion slim cigarettes last year. By comparison, just 500 million slim cigarettes were sold in 2007.

Slim cigarettes have become so popular that by the end of December 2014, 16 out of 18 China Tobacco provincial-level corporations feature their own slim cigarette brands.

Originally designed for female smokers, the concept of the slim cigarette has been radically redefined. According to Tobacco Asia, slim cigarette users are “fashionable, novel, graceful, pioneering, and individualized” and are gradually gaining universal acceptance by all smokers.

Coupled with this re-conceptualizing is the idea that slim cigarettes are a “healthier” alternative to regular cigarettes.

As Zhang Qingyu explained to Xinhua, “It’s the lesser of two evils.” A middle-aged chain smoker who switched to slim cigarettes three years ago, Zhang said he made the switch for health reasons. “My family support me on the switch because, you know, smoking kills and with such a ‘healthier’ alternative, I may live longer,” he said.

However, China’s anti-smoking lobby say the idea that slim cigarettes are “less harmful” is a “beautiful trap” set by cigarette companies.

Executive vice director of ThinkTank Wu Yiqun said the idea that slim cigarettes are “healthier” is a myth. “There has been no evidence that a smoker is exposed to less chemicals and poisons after switching to slim cigarettes,” said Wu. “Smokers feel slim cigarettes are less ‘fulfilling’ so they use other tobacco products, smoke more of them or simply take more drags.”

Deputy head of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control Xu Guihua said slim cigarettes are a marketing hoax used by the industry to dupe consumers and extract more profits from the world’s largest tobacco market. “There is no such thing as ‘safe’ cigarettes no matter how slim they are,” said Xu.

Despite these criticisms, head of the China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and China National Tobacco Corporation Ling Chengxing asserted that slim cigarettes are of “lower costs and cause less harm” compared with regular cigarettes when addressing a meeting earlier this year.

At half the size of a regular cigarette, the production of 5 millimeter-diameter slim cigarettes provide numerous boons to the Chinese cigarette industry, the largest in the world. The smaller size lowers production costs, uses less raw material, and reduces tar levels.

If the production of slim cigarettes continues to increase at 50 percent a year, we could see the potential production of 100 billion slim cigarettes within five years.

Meanwhile, e-cigarettes have largely been ignored by Chinese smokers, despite their country’s status as the world’s leading manufacturer of e-cigarettes.

China has implemented smoking bans in cities like Beijing, while others like Shanghai consider their own. Meanwhile, other smoking bans forbid smoking by CCP officials, medical professionals, and actors in TV shows and films. But despite the prevalence of anti-smoking campaigns, most Chinese smokers remain reluctant to give up the habit themselves.

Last month, a medical study warned that a third of all Chinese men under the age of 20 will die prematurely if they do not stop smoking, with smoking-related fatalities to increase to two million annually in the country by 2030.

However, illnesses caused by cigarette use only appear to be on the rise on account of an ill-informed Chinese public. Only 25 percent of Chinese adults have a comprehensive understanding of the health risks of smoking, and less than a third are aware of the dangers of second-hand smoking, according to World Health Organization.

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Based on two nationwide studies conducted 15 years apart, and involving hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens, the studies found that two-thirds of Chinese men start to smoke before their 20th birthday. Of those men, half of them will die from smoking-related illnesses.

Around one million Chinese died from smoking in 2010. However, the researchers warn this number could double by 2030 if the trend continues. Interestingly, it is Chinese men who are most at risk. More than half of all Chinese men smoke, while only around two percent of Chinese women do.

The studies, conducted by The University of Oxford, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Chinese Center for Disease Control claim that the trend can easily be reversed, provided Chinese men quit smoking: “The key to avoiding this huge wave of deaths is cessation, and if you are a young man, don’t start,” said co-author Richard Peto of Oxford University.

Several Chinese cities have come out in favor of public smoking bans, such as Beijing. Moreover, health professionals and government officials have been banned from smoking; even actors have been banned from smoking on television and films. However, most Chinese smokers remain reluctant to give up the habit themselves.

Chinese netizen reaction to the Lancet report was largely muted. One person wrote, “If it’s not smoking, then it’s the smog that will kill me. Which to pick?” Another person said, “People who smoke will all die, but then people who don’t smoke will die just the same.”

The World Health Organization says smoking kills 50 percent of smokers, directly resulting in five million deaths every year around the globe.

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CCTV’s story said the child’s father enjoys cold beers himself, so wanted to get his son started early to “build courage”. He’s apparently been pouring beer down his kid’s gullet since he was born.

What Tang didn’t anticipate – amazingly – is this might become addictive. Now the kid’s eyes pop out and he gets a grin on his face when he sees beer. “Beer has become his new milk,” Tang said.

Getting kids started early on addictive, dangerous substances unfortunately isn’t something new in China. Last year, people were shocked to see a 2-year old smoking (below), one of many cases that have surfaced in recent years. In other cases, parents have argued that picking up smoking will help relieve pain and make their kids feel more comfortable.

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