World No Tobacco Day today puts the spotlight on China, and not just because the mainland's estimated 350 million smokers consume 40 per cent of the world's tobacco. The mainland is also a case study in the theme of this year's no-tobacco day - interference by the tobacco industry designed to frustrate anti-smoking efforts.

According to a new report by the authorities there on health development, tobacco control and preventive medicine, eight key tactics are used by the monopoly state-owned China National Tobacco Corp and its regulator, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, to sabotage anti-smoking efforts. They range from a refusal to include graphic images in health warnings on cigarette packs, to undermining moves to raise taxes and prices, and conning the public into believing that cigarettes with less tar are less harmful and that blending Chinese herbs into cigarette tobacco makes it less harmful.

With the government trying to make health care more affordable and rolling out national insurance, the huge profits and tax revenue harvested from the tobacco industry have to be weighed against the costs of medical treatment and admissions to hospital for smoking-related diseases and lost productivity.