China's legislature is considering its first ever law to ban the sale of cigarettes and alcohol to 300 million young people below the age of 18, reports Chinese news agency Xinhua.

A draft amendment to the law on the protection of minors would compel shopkeepers to display signs saying the cigarettes and alcohol would not be sold to minors. The amendment, submitted to China's legislature on Tuesday for a preliminary reading, contains 25 new provisions, but has no specified penalties.
The draft amendment stipulates that shops or individuals caught selling tobacco and drink to minors will be asked to "correct their mistakes" and receive "administrative punishment", which could include fines.
The draft amendment would also prohibit the production and sale of books, newspapers, audio-video products, computer games and cartoons with pornographic, violent, or disturbing content or gambling information to minors, for which offenders would face "severe punishment".
China's law on the protection of minors went into effect in 1992. "Over the past ten years or so, Chinese society has seen significant changes and some new problems are threatening the healthy development of children," said Zhu Mingshan, vice chairman of the Committee for Internal and Judicial Affairs of the National People's Congress (NPC), at the 23rd session of the NPC Standing Committee starting on Tuesday. (pi)