As a smoker one of the best things about coming back to the UK was the public smoking ban and high cost of cigarettes. Yes I said that right, GOOD thing. I knew that being back in the UK I would finally be able to quit smoking and have now tapered down from a pack a day to a pack a week (end date set for next week, wish me luck!).
With a descent pack of cigarettes in China costing no more than £1 and people smoking everywhere, me and pretty much everyone I knew found it impossible to quit smoking. Now when I say there is smoking everywhere in China, I do mean everywhere. Common sights in China are of office workers smoking in the middle of their cubicles, people smoking inside closed elevators, smoking inside movie theatres and taxi drivers smoking with the windows closed. I was even shocked to learn after a doctor in Shanghai lighted up in front of me whilst examining me in a hospital, that over 60% of Chinese medical workers smoke, the highest in the world.
A news story just published by Bloomberg here reports that the Chinese government have just passed new smoking regulations in an effort to reduce public smoking and will come into effect May 2011. This includes banning smoking in 28 types of buildings such as hotels and restaurants, as well as banning outdoor smoking areas on frequented pedestrian roadways. Additionally, businesses who fail to enforce the laws by not putting up mandatory ‘no smoking’ signs and asking people to stop smoking in non-smoking areas can be fined between RMB1,000-20,000 (approx. £100-£2,000).
Now I think this is great, but I am very cynical about it actually improving anything in China. Lesser regulations were passed in Shanghai during the run-up to the 2010 Expo in an effort to make Shanghai a more healthy and cosmopolitan city. Regulations included the banning of smoking in 12 types of buildings such as hospitals and theatres. Additionally restaurants were required to create non-smoking areas. Those caught smoking in these areas would first be issued with a warning and failure to comply resulted in a fine of up to RMB200 (approx. £20). However, business owners failed to enforce the laws.
Now even though I am a smoker, I am always conscious of other people’s exposure to second hand smoke, so when the regulations passed I was pretty much always dining in these new so called non-smoking areas. On one such occasion while sat having brunch in the Peninsula Hotel of all places, a table of two middle aged Chinese men sat next to us began smoking. We waited for a waitress to come by and ask them to stop, but two waitresses passed by and did no such thing. Since my friend didn’t speak Chinese, I politely informed them that they were in a non-smoking area and could they either move to the smoking area or put them out. They responded with blank glares and continued smoking. More annoyed by their response then them actually smoking, I got up to go inform a waitress and ask her to inform the gentlemen. Her response was one of sheer avoidance, stating the smoking area is full and that she doesn’t want to bother them. I informed her of the regulation and asked her to get me the manager. Alas by the time the manager had arrived at our table the two gentlemen in question had finished smoking, paid their bill and left with sniggers of triumph in our direction.
The above incident typifies the problem with the lesser regulations; there were just no teeth to making sure they were enforced. However, these new regulations are meant to force businesses to enforce the regulations, but while there may be some improvement I still question the effectiveness of the law. With smoking so ingrained in Chinese culture (being offered cigarettes in business is a sign of respect and customary when closing deals) there are still going to be a large number of establishments in China, especially outside the more cosmopolitan cities of Shanghai and Beijing that will defy the regulations and risk the fine. Just like the many Chinese landlords who risk being fined for property tax evasion on their rental properties by keeping tenants off the books and not issuing out fapiao (receipts). As well as the risk of on the spot fines for drivers running red lights doing little to improve traffic in China.
Furthermore, whilst the regulations will reduce second hand smoke in certain public places and are a step in the right direction. A significant number of public places will still allow smoking in such places as bars, clubs and restaurant smoking areas, doing nothing to reduce the number of already 350 million smokers in China. If China really does want to get on top of this issue it needs to do more in educating the public about the dangers of smoking and prevent a younger generation of smokers from being born. With cigarettes already at such a low price, even by Chinese standards, the government should also start imposing taxes on cigarettes as a means of funding any number of smoking awareness and cessation programmes in a similar way that the hefty tax on UK cigarette sales ends up going to the NHS. The new regulations come into effect May 2011, only time will tell if they have any impact and if they are the first step of many against smoking, or simply a token offering by the Chinese government to appease the World Health Organisation and their global treaty on tobacco control.
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