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Health official clarifies smoking ban report

By Jia Xu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-05-24 17:55

The public smoking ban will not be fully implemented by next year as the media reported previously,said Li Xinhua,chief of the Ministry of Health, the Fawan newspaper reported Monday.

Li made the statement during a media seminar on publication of the smoking ban in Changsha, capital of Central China's Hunan province.

China will gradually ban public smoking in accord with World Health Organization’sFrame Construction on Tobacco Control (FCTC),which was issued on Jan 9,2006, Li said.

"Recent media reports about the ban in China were not completely accurate."

According to the eighth item in the FCTC,China should start to implement smoking controls at indoor public areas, working areas,and public transportation areas, etc., on Jan 9,2011. However,considering the complex situation and incomplete law enforcement,it is impossible to wholly ban smoking in public within the next year, Li explained at the seminar.