25% pupils have bought cigarettes for parents

One in four elementary school students has run errands to buy cigarettes for their parents, according to a survey by the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control.

The survey, conducted in 2012, a year after the association launched anti-smoking campaigns at 31 schools in Beijing, Zhengzhou and Kaifeng, also found that 12 percent of students consider donations from tobacco companies to education are charitable.

Although loopholes exist in the schools' tobacco control measures, the campaign has had many positive results.

The survey found that a year after the campaign was launched the smoking rate among students fell from 7.7 percent to 6.3 percent, while the percentage of students who have tried smoking dropped from 22.5 to 17.4.