The proportion of smokers in China who want to quit is "the second lowest" among 31 countries with high numbers of heavy smokers, tobacco control experts said at an anti-smoking advocacy event in Beijing, reports Global Times.

According to a survey on Chinese adults in 2018, the overall and daily smoking cessation rates in China were 20.1 per cent and 15.6 per cent respectively. Only 16.1 per cent of smokers said they planned to quit within 12 months, only 5.6 per cent within 30 days.
"Many people don't think of smoking addiction as a disease," said Cui Xiaobo, Deputy Director of the Beijing Tobacco Control Association, at the event on 18 May.
China set goals to keep its smoking rate among people above 15 years old under 24.5 per cent by 2022 and 20 per cent by 2030, according to a document released by the Healthy China Promotion Committee under the State Council, the report said.