In the past, highly marketed and hyped donations and sponsorships from tobacco companies, all State-owned in China, were rampant, Wu said.

"More than 100 Hope Project schools in underprivileged western parts of China still sport the names of tobacco companies that donated money to them, which is obviously not good for the healthy development of children," she said.

Wang Zhenyao, department director of social welfare and promotion of charities under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, told China Daily that his department has noticed the anti-smoking public voice and has appreciated the constant efforts by non-governmental anti-smoking advocates.

"Given that the law-making process is open to the public, these (anti-smoking measures) are likely to be included in the coming law," he said.

The new laws would also be in line with the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which specifies that member countries, including China, are obliged to undertake a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship at both domestic and international levels, said Jiang Yuan, deputy director of CDC's tobacco control office.

In 2003, China signed the FCTC, promising to ban all types of tobacco advertising and promotion by 2011.

China now has 350 million smokers, official statistics show. One million die of smoking-related diseases each year.