Beijing on Monday introduced the toughest smoking curbs in China, the world’s largest consumer of tobacco, with a blanket ban in the city’s restaurants, offices and on public transport as part of a national campaign to combat the costly heath effects of the habit.
China has massively lagged developed nations in the battle to curb smoking. More than half of all adult men smoke, according to the World Health Organisation, and 1m a year die from tobacco-related illness.
The government, while eager to reduce the toll on the healthcare system, is dependent on the tax revenues generated by tobacco, as well as the profits from its tobacco monopoly. The tobacco industry contributed Rmb911bn ($146bn) to government coffers last year, 6.5 per cent of the annual budget income.