Jin Dapeng, vice chairman of the China Health Law Society, has called for a national tobacco control law that bans smoking in all public places across the country, reports the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

Jin said that only 45.7 per cent of Chinese cities have introduced local bans on smoking, and that many bans would usually exclude workplaces, restaurants and bars. He added that the punishments for violating the regulations would also be too gentle.

Jin, who is also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, called for the media to boost public knowledge of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which China ratifed in 2005, and to raise public awareness about people's rights not to be harmed by tobacco use. (pi)