SMOKING would be banned on all public transport, including buses, taxis, the Metro, long distance coaches and all indoor areas, such as waiting rooms and ticket halls, the Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control and Prevention has ruled.
Smoking bans would also apply to all educational institutions and administrative offices in the first half of next year, the Daily Sunshine reported Thursday.
All public indoor areas would be off-limits to smokers. This included staircases in office buildings, the center said.
Shenzhen banned smoking at medical institutions this year.
Most people supported the smoking ban, with more than 82 percent agreeing with banning smoking on public transport, according to a survey conducted by the center last month. The survey showed that 77 percent supported banning smoking at schools; 57 percent were in favor of a ban in offices; 53 percent supported the ban in hospitals and 47 percent favored a ban on smoking in restaurants.
Banning smoking in these public venues is aimed at preventing more people, particularly nonsmokers, from secondhand smoke, Xiong Jingfan, vice director of the center, said at a media workshop on the hazards of smoking.
According to a research released by the center Dec. 13, more than 57.5 percent of nonsmokers were subjected to secondhand smoke for at least one day a week.
Researchers surveyed more than 2,200 adults aged between 18 and 45, including 26.4 percent who were smokers. Of these, nearly 50 percent were male and 2.7 percent were female.
The average age for female to start smoking was 25.4, while men started smoking at the age of 20.4 on average, the research showed.
Awareness of secondhand smoke should be improved, according to the research. Although about 88 percent of people knew that smoking could cause diseases such as lung cancer, heart disease and stroke, only 12 percent knew that secondhand smoking could also cause these diseases.
The Central Government was preparing laws to control smoking in seven cities, such as Shenzhen, Nanchang in Jiangxi Province, Lanzhou in Gansu Province and Harbin in Heilongjiang Province, Xiong said.
(Wang Yuanyuan)
