Are cigarettes too affordable for China’s young people?
Raising the tax on a packet of smokes steadily to keep the price at US$3.15 can keep Chinese children from smoking, a survey showed
China can keep children from smoking by raising tobacco taxes continuously to maintain a minimum per-packet retail price of 20 yuan (HK$24.62, US$3.15), according to a survey by the University of International Business and Economics.
“More than 78 per cent of interviewees said tobacco prices should be raised between 20 and 29 yuan to prevent children from smoking,” said Zheng Rong, director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Tobacco and Economics at the Beijing-based business and economics university.
“That means the majority of residents found the current tobacco price too low for children.”
The university interviewed 3,000 people from seven cities and in different age groups for the survey.
Cigarettes can be bought for as little as three to five yuan a packet in most of China’s cities and rural areas.