How China became addicted to its tobacco monopoly

Twenty years ago this November, China pledged to enact a national indoor smoking ban following a treaty with the World Health Organisation, a measure that both protects people from second-hand smoke, and, researchers say, makes smoking less socially acceptable. But in China, the national law never happened, and efforts by municipalities to implement their own bans have been challenged at every turn by the tobacco monopoly, commonly known as China Tobacco.

To institutionalize smoking in public places, China Tobacco has stepped up to fund the construction of thousands of smoking areas in government buildings, shopping malls, parks and other indoor and outdoor locations.

Today, just 16% of China’s population now lives in a place covered by treaty-compliant smoke-free laws, according to an analysis by China University of Political Science and Law — far below Xi’s target of 30% by 2022.

More than 700 million nonsmokers in China, including 180 million children, are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke, according to the WHO.

"The government is becoming a more authoritarian state [and] there is less role for civil society,” said one public health advocate. “Because of that, there is an opportunity for [China Tobacco] … we don’t see that things will change in the next few years unless there is a shift in the general political climate.”

Now experts warn smoking-related deaths in China will soar in coming years, straining the country’s health system.