China is the world's largest consumer of tobacco and home to some 350 million smokers. Current legislation bans smoking in certain public places, but experts say enforcement is poor.

In a pilot project, seven cities in China are now taking steps to ban smoking in workplaces and public venues. The 7 cities that will implement the new ban, and which will be run as a pilot project under the joint auspices of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, are Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenyang, Harbin, Nanchang, Lanzhou and Shenzhen.
However, experts see a potential conflict of interest as many local governments rely heavily on tax revenues from their tobacco industry. Another potential hurdle is that tobacco companies in China are owned by the state. (pi)