Xian is latest Chinese city to ban smoking in public spaces, threatening US$1.50 fine
- Penalties and reporting hotline introduced by new local legislation after 2011’s nationwide prohibition of indoor smoking proves ineffective
A city in China’s northwest has launched the country’s latest effort to outlaw smoking in public spaces, announcing a ban and fines for individuals and businesses.
Xian’s ban follows those in Beijing and Shanghai, introduced in 2015 and 2017 respectively, and Shenzhen, which brought in a blanket ban in 2017 after years of piecemeal legislation since 1998.
The Chinese government outlawed indoor smoking nationwide in 2011, but it was poorly enforced and lacked penalties, with little implementation at local level.
Authorities in Xian announced that, effective from Thursday, indoor smoking in public spaces would be prohibited, including on public transport, along with smoking in certain outdoor public spaces such as sports stadiums, children’s parks and school playgrounds. The full laws were published by the website Xian News on Saturday.
However, the fines in Xian are lighter than those in Beijing, where individuals can be fined 22 yuan (about US$3.20) and businesses up to 10,000 yuan.
Other major cities have been less successful in outlawing the practice completely. The eastern city of Hangzhou amended a proposed ban on indoor smoking earlier this year after lobbying from China Tobacco, the state tobacco manufacturer, according to Reuters. Now, the city must provide designated indoor public smoking areas.