China Should Ban Smoking in Public Places, Official Says

BEIJING — Vice Premier Wan Li wants to ban smoking in China, the world’s largest consumer of tobacco, a government-run newspaper reported Saturday.

At a cancer research conference Friday, Wan dwelt on the harmful effects of smoking and said it should be prohibited in public places, the English-language China Daily said Saturday.

Beijing started a no-smoking campaign this year and forbade smoking in 100 specific public locations, but enforcement is lax.

Shanghai launched an anti-smoking campaign last year, and Tianjin in September banned smoking from its chemical factories.

China has an estimated 250 million smokers among its 1.07 billion people. More than 60% of adult Chinese men smoke, according to Chinese statistics.

The tobacco industry is a major source of state revenue. Its cigarette production doubled from 1978 to 1986 and is expected to double again, to 130 billion packs annually, by 1990.