The Chinese capital will ban smoking indoors in all public places, workplaces, restaurants and public transportation beginning on Monday. The new ban, which is Beijing's toughest to date, has been welcomed by anti-tobacco advocates.
A recent survey by Beijing's Health Authority has revealed that 23 percent of the city's total population – 4.19 million people are smokers. Moreover, Beijing's smokers each smoke an average of 14.6 cigarettes per day, according to the Global Times.
"We couldn't say this is the strongest law in the world. But it's certainly up there with the strongest, in that there are no exemptions, no exceptions and no loopholes on the indoor smoking ban requirement, Angela Pratt of WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative told Reuters.
Following the ban, all smoking lounges in Beijing's airport will be closed and 11 smoking spaces will be open outside. New anti-smoking rules have set fines at 10,000 yuan (S$2,180) for businesses caught allowing indoor smoking and a fine of 200 yuan for individuals who violate the ban, The Straits Times reported.
Beijing residents can report indoor smoking in public venues and 600 bus stops around the city will get new outdoor smoking spaces, according to the China Daily. The new rules also prohibit selling of cigarettes within 100 meters of primary schools and kindergartens.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) applauded the strict ban. "We applauded Beijing for its strong and determined leadership in protecting the health of its people by making public places smoke-free," said Shin Young-soo, regional director for the WHO's Western Pacific Regional Office, according to the Xinhua.
"The capital's 1,100 law enforcement officers cannot cover all the public venues every day, but we will increase the frequency of inspections at bars and restaurants," Wang Benjin of Beijing Health Inspection Institute told the Global Times in response to growing skeptism regarding enforecement.
China is the world's largest consumer of tobacco goods. China has more than 300 million smokers, and more than one million Chinese people die from smoking-related diseases annually, Xinhua reported.
