mandatory Cigarette Smoking in Chinese County Now Reversed

May 9, 2009

China cigarette order up in smoke

Page last updated at 11:28 GMT, Tuesday, 5 May 2009 12:28 UK

A Chinese county has rescinded a rule urging its government workers to smoke

more in order to boost tax income.

The authorities in Gong'an county had told civil servants and teachers to smoke

230,000 packs of the locally-made Hubei brand each year.

Those who did not smoke enough or used brands from other provinces or overseas

faced being fined or even fired.

But the government has now backtracked from the policy, after a report in a

local newspaper generated criticism.

U-turn

A million people die from smoking-related diseases in China every year, but the

local authorities were initially undeterred by the health risks.

" The regulation will boost the local economy via the cigarette tax, " Chen

Nianzu, a member of the cigarette market supervision team in Gong'an county,

Hubei province, told the Global Times newspaper.

The paper said the measure was probably an attempt to shore up the Hubei brands

against tough competition from cigarettes produced in neighbouring Hunan

province.

On Tuesday, the local government's website published a statement saying " We

decided to remove this edict " , but declined to elaborate further.

Smoking is deep-rooted in Chinese culture - where more than half of all male

doctors smoke - and there is still a general lack of awareness about the impact

on health.

But the authorities have recently started encouraging smokers to kick the habit

- even imposing a ban on smoking in public buildings in the capital, Beijing, in

the run up to the 2008 Olympic games.

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