A survey released by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday
indicates that the smoking rate in China dropped six percentage
points in the ten years ending in 2003.
The smoking rate among Chinese aged 15 and older decreased from
32 percent in 1993 to 26 percent in 2003.
The survey, conducted in September and October of 2003, covered
57,000 households.
Among those surveyed, 48.9 percent of men and 3.2 percent of
women smoked. The smoking rate was lower for men in urban areas,
but higher for women.
Although a smaller proportion of the population is smoking now
than a decade ago, the number of heavy smokers and quantity of
cigarettes smoked have increased.
The MOH report indicates that this may be the reason cigarette
sales have remained level during the past ten years.
Some 1.8 trillion cigarettes are sold in China every year to the
country's 320 million smokers. About 1 million Chinese die each
year as a direct result of smoking.
Since joining the World Trade Organization, China has slashed
its average tariff rate on imported tobacco from 65 percent to 25
percent and is gradually opening the tobacco distribution
sector.
With the markets in Europe and North America shrinking, China
looms as a prime target for major tobacco producers.
However, except for lowering tariffs and opening up
distribution, China's strict state monopoly on tobacco will be
maintained in accordance with the WTO agreement.
The MOH survey also indicated that the rate of frequent alcohol
drinkers dropped sharply during the past ten years.
"Among those aged 15 and above, 79.5 percent have never drunk or
hardly drunk alcohol. About 12.3 percent drink alcohol occasionally
and 8.2 percent drink alcohol frequently," the report said.
(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn December 3, 2004)