Campaigners call for blanket ban on tobacco advertising in China

Anti-smoking campaigners on the mainland have criticised proposed changes to its advertising laws for stopping short of a blanket ban on tobacco adverts.

The draft amendments propose extending the ban on the promotion of tobacco products from older forms of media such as television, films and newspapers to include the internet and mobile telecommunications.

The venues where tobacco advertising is banned are also likely to be extended to include public areas and buildings such as libraries, museums, parks, hospitals, schools, and public transport.

Anti-smoking activists, however, say the legislation does not go far enough.

China has signed the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which requires it to ban all forms of advertising promoting smoking.

Zeng Fanyu, the director of the general office at the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, said the law should be further strengthened. "Tobacco advertising can appear wherever there is an opportunity. You see these advertisements in supermarkets, on the back of train tickets, the cover of a train seat and on poker cards. Anything can be a media platform for tobacco without a comprehensive ban."