Smoking in China
In China, smoking and the sale of cigarettes is legal, and they can be purchased online, but buying from vending machines is not permitted. Importing cigarettes for trade is allowed with a license. However, there is a complete ban on all tobacco advertising, and health warnings on cigarette packaging are required. The minimum legal age for purchasing cigarettes is 18 years, and there are legal restrictions on smoking in public places as well. Cigarettes are subject to a total taxation rate of 52%. As of 2024, China had an estimated 288.3 million current adult smokers, with an adult smoking prevalence of 24.4%. Among males, the smoking prevalence was 46.4%, and among females, it was only 1.9%. The number of daily smokers was approximately 256.9 million, with an adult daily smoking prevalence of 20.3%—38.6% among males and 1.3% among females. According to 2021 data, tobacco smoking caused about 2.7 million deaths in China—2.2 million among males and 490,700 among females. This presents that smoking accounted for 22.78% of all deaths in the country, including 31.81% of male deaths and 10.11% of female deaths.
Read articles from China
April 19, 2021 by cgtn.com
China to tighten rules on regulating e-cigarettes
For the first time, e-cigarettes have been placed under specialized legal supervision as Chinese regulators set to enhance regulations of the growing industry.
In a draft amendment to China's Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Tobacco Patent Sales Law, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration proposed bringing e-cigarettes in line with current regulations for tobacco products.
It said vaping products, like e-cigarettes, share core similarities as traditional tobacco products in its nature and way of consumption.
April 02, 2021 by filtermag.org
What It’s Like to Be a Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocate in Taiwan
Vaping captures headlines in the United States, where outcry over a perceived youth “epidemic” drives health misinformation and efforts to restrict products that could save smokers’ lives—with international implications.
But tobacco harm reduction’s most important battleground, where more than half of the world’s smokers live, is Asia. The continent is home to a diverse range of nicotine policies, ranging from innovative approaches that the world should watch to harsh prohibitions.
December 10, 2020 by taipeitimes.com
Doctor urges avoiding e-cigarettes after treating teen
A Taichung doctor has urged people not to use e-cigarettes, after treating a 15-year-old boy who developed severe pneumonia after using the devices for four years. E-cigarettes, which use oil containing nicotine and various chemicals that make them addictive, cannot be used as a means of breaking an addiction to smoking tobacco products, Lu said.
“They also impact the development of a child’s brain and can lead to cancer,” he said, adding that the government should do more to restrict e-cigarette use among youth.
December 02, 2020 by taiwannews.com.tw
Taiwanese teenager diagnosed with pneumonia linked to vaping
A 15-year-old Taiwanese teenager was diagnosed with pneumonia in September after developing a habit of smoking electronic cigarettes four years ago.
The Chung Shan Medical University (CSMU) Hospital said Tuesday (Dec. 1) that it had treated a young patient in September after he experienced symptoms of coughing, shortness of breath, epigastralgia, and nausea. It said an MRI scan of the boy's lungs showed that he was suffering from bilateral pneumonia, which can seriously inflame and scar a person's lungs.
December 01, 2020 by thelancet.com
E-cigarette use among adults in China: findings from repeated cross-sectional surveys in 2015–16 and 2018–19
The use of e-cigarettes among adults is increasing globally. Since 2018, policies in China have restricted e-cigarette use; however, little information is available on the national trend in e-cigarette use before regulations were implemented. Therefore, we sought to estimate the trend in e-cigarette use in China before policy implementation and explored associated factors.
Methods
We assessed two nationally representative cross-sectional datasets from the China Chronic Disease and Nutrition Surveillance (CCDNS) surveys initiated in 2015 (June, 2015, to May, 2016) and 2018 (August, 2018, to June, 2019).
November 30, 2020 by vapingdaily.com
E-Cigarette and New Tobacco Flavor Ban Possible For Taiwan
Taiwan is considering banning flavored e-cigarettes and new tobacco products like heat-not-burn sticks. Health authorities are considering the flavor ban as a way to curb the rise in vaping and smoking rates in young people.
The Health Promotion Administration [...] had earlier proposed a complete ban on e-cigarettes in the country. That motion was not adopted by the government.
Now, public health officials are proposing a half-measure that would ban flavored vapor products as a way to dissuade people, especially, young people from vaping or using heat-not-burn products like PMI’s IQOS.
November 05, 2020 by taiwannews.com.tw
Taiwan mulls ban on flavored cigarettes
Taiwan’s health authorities are seeking to prohibit flavored tobacco products found to appeal to youths.
Around four out of 10 juvenile smokers used flavored cigarettes in 2019, and the products appear to be more popular among girls. Over 81,000 teenagers reported having developed the habit of using traditional cigarettes last year, according to the Health Promotion Administration (HPA).
There were over 1,200 registered tobacco flavorings in Taiwan in 2019, with the 10 most common being vanilla, floral and fruity flavors, candy, [...] Most of the ingredients are chemical compounds.
October 12, 2020 by sixthtone.com
Shenzhen Expands Its War on Tobacco, E-Cigarettes
One of China’s most adamantly anti-smoking cities has vowed to stop selling e-cigarettes near schools and reduce children’s exposure to secondhand smoke at home as part of a new “smoke-free communities” campaign.
In a more focused update to its “smoke-free city” campaign launched in 2018, the southern metropolis of Shenzhen pledged Saturday to strictly prohibit the sale of not only tobacco products but also e-cigarettes within 50 meters of primary and middle schools, according to Sixth Tone’s sister publication The Paper.
September 18, 2020 by scmp.com
China’s largest e-cigarette brand Relx to study health effects of vaping amid regulatory crackdowns
Are electronic cigarettes a safe alternative to smoking?
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says no, but China’s largest e-cigarette brand Relx Technology thinks more research could prove otherwise.
“E-cigarettes are sometimes viewed with suspicion because we have incomplete knowledge,” said Relx co-founder and head of R&D and supply chain Wen Yilong. The company unveiled a new bioscience laboratory on Thursday to study the health effects of vaping.
September 17, 2020 by vaping360.com
Will Synthetic Nicotine Skirt FDA's Tobacco Authority?
Hangsen Technology, located in Shenzhen, China, is a division of Hong Kong-based Hangsen Holding Co., Ltd. The company has manufactured e-liquid in facilities around the world since 2009.
Hangsen will launch SYN NIcotine—which is created with lab chemicals, rather than extracted from tobacco plants—in North America soon. Synthetic nicotine is not a new concept; other companies also manufacture tobacco-free nicotine, and it has been used commercially in a few vaping products.