China incurred a loss of 250 billion yuan (US$32.5 billion) from
smoking last year, said a report issued by the China Center for
Economic Research with the Beijing University.
The cost exceeded the pre-tax profits of the country's tobacco
industry, which totaled 240 billion yuan last year as the largest
source of China's tax revenues, according to statistics on the
website of the State Tobaccao Monopoly Administration.
Of the total cost, 166.56 billion yuan was paid for medical
treatment to 23 major diseases caused by smoking, which was
calculated according to a national smoking rate of 35.8 percent
found by the China National Nutrition and Health Survey.
At least another 86.11 billion yuan of losses were caused by
delay of work, passive smoking, fires, environmental pollution and
shortened life span, as the report shows.
The government should increase the tax rate for tobacco
enterprises and raise cigarette prices to reduce low-income
smokers, said Lin Daqing, a professor with the University of Hong
Kong.
China will consume 4.5 billion fewer packs of cigarettes each
year if it makes the price of each pack 0.4 yuan higher, claimed
Fred Cox, a senior director with the US-based Pfizer Pharmaceutical
Company.
Cox said the United States saw its smoking rate drop three to
five percentage points in the past ten years, when its cigarette
prices rose 10 percent.
Official data show that China has a 55-percent general tax rate
on its tobacco industry, while the rate reaches 60 to 80 percent in
other countries like Japan, Germany, Brazil and Britain.
However, some experts say higher prices will make little
difference to tobacco addicts and may boost tobacco smuggling, as
the tax rate on tobacco industry is much higher than other sectors
of China.
Price and tax rate hikes are not practical solutions and likely
to produce just the opposite effect, said Zhu Xuancai, an expert on
smoking control.
Cigarette smuggling cost China at least 15 billion yuan in tax
revenue losses each year, nearly 10 percent of the total tax
revenues from cigarette sales last year, as the 21st Century
Business Herald reported.
Meanwhile, other solutions like increasing the quality standard
of cigarettes, cracking down on tobacco advertisements and
punishing smoking in public places are suggested to protect people
from the harm of tobacco.
China has more than 350 million smokers, about a third of the
world's smoking population. Each year, about 700,000 die from
smoking-related diseases.
Last August, the country ratified the Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control, an anti-smoking treaty that has been ratified by
110 countries.
(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2006)