It has been a year since Beijing rolled out China's toughest indoor anti-smoking ban. On the occasion of the one-year anniversary, the World Health Organization (WHO) is acknowledging the capital's efforts and calling on China to expand the anti-smoking legislation nationwide.
Big posters hang outside Bird's Nest to mark World No Tobacco Day, which falls on May 31.
Beijing has reportedly raked in over RMB1 million from issuing public smoking fines during the past year. And it seems like these heavy fines really do pay off, in more ways than one.
READ MORE: Beijing to Begin 100-Day Anti-Smoking Campaign July 1
According to a survey conducted between March and April of this year, about half of those interviewed in the study want to quit smoking.
“It is time to extend the same protection from second-hand smoke Beijingers now enjoy to the rest of the country, through the adoption of a strong national smoke-free law," said WHO representative Bernhard Schwartlander during a press conference.
At the same conference, Man Qunan, the spokesman of China's Ministry of Health, said that national legislation was in its final stages.
But China is a nation that likes to light up. According to WHO data, China is the largest producer and consumer of tobacco in the world. About 28 percent of adults in China, a whopping 315 million, are smokers. Eleven percent of boys between the ages of 13 and 15 smoke. Every year, about one million people die of tobacco-related diseases. That is around 3000 deaths every day.
In a poll conducted by China Youth Newspaper, about 80 percent of 2063 interviewees in China also agree that the law should be extended.
[Image via United Nations]
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