Shanghai planning total ban on smoking in public places

The Shanghai government is planning to introduce a total ban on smoking in public places within five years, local health authorities said Monday.

The standing committee of the Shanghai People's Congress has included the ban as one of its key legislation targets for the period, said Li Zhongyang, deputy director of the Shanghai Health Promotion Committee (SHPC).

"It will be a great opportunity for Shanghai to push for a complete ban on indoor smoking," said Tang Qiong, also from the SHPC.

A partial smoking ban was enacted in the city in 2010, but a recent report showed that many internet cafes, restaurants and entertainment venues still see customers lighting up, resulting in 252 venues and 107 individuals receiving combined fines of 481,600 yuan (US$78,350) last year for not adhering to the current laws.

Shenzhen recently introduced a city-wide crackdown on restaurant smoking, which has received criticism from some restaurant owners for the lack of transparency in the legislation, citing the exclusion of broadly defined "bars" from the ban. 

The government is reacting to mounting pressure from the medical community: a report published by scientists working for the World Health Organization said that China could avoid 13 million deaths by 2050 if it enforced existing smoking bans.

[Image via Flickr]