China city to completely ban smoking in restaurants

Harbin is the first Chinese city set to completely ban smoking in restaurants, health experts said Wednesday. The legislation is expected to be enacted in May.

The city's top health official told Xinhua the legislation provides a grace period for restaurants and hotels to implement the new ban. Smoking in other enclosed public spaces will be banned as soon as the new law is enacted.

"It will take another six to twelve months before all restaurants and hotels in Harbin go smoke free," said Mu Ying, head of the municipal health bureau. "It is a very difficult ban considering the smoking prevalence here and there is no precedent in the country for us to follow."

The regulation says restaurant owners can be fined up to 30,000 yuan (4,800 U.S. dollars) for failure to comply, depending on the seriousness of the violation, Mu said.

China has 300 million smokers -- the highest number of any country in the world. Health experts estimate about 740 million people are exposed to second-hand smoke since Chinese smokers have traditionally lit up almost anywhere they want.

Smoking prevalence does not vary much by city, health experts say, adding that in Harbin about half of adult men and five percent of women smoke.

Since 2008, some large cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have enacted regulations banning smoking in some locations, but none have completely banned smoking in restaurants, health officials and experts said.

"An absolute smoking ban in restaurants is a landmark," said Yang Gonghuan, a veteran tobacco control expert with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC).

She said Harbin has come closest to the spirit of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)， a treaty China signed in 2003 but has been slow to implement.

A smoking ban in the hospitality sector can prove extremely difficult. Managers of hotels and restaurants in Harbin that have already tried to institute a smoking ban have expressed frustration.

"We no longer provide ash trays in hotel rooms but often end up with holes burnt in the carpet by discarded cigarette butts," said a manager surnamed Sun, who works at the downtown Madieer Hotel.

The hotel, built in 1906 by Jews from Russia, is among a dozen high-end hotels and restaurants on Harbin's Russian-style Central Street to volunteer to go smoke-free this January in advance of the formal ban.

Harbin, located just south of Russia's Siberia in China's Heilongjiang Province, is also known as China's "Ice City" for its frigid winter. A smoking ban in indoor public places means smokers will have to puff outdoors when temperatures often hover around minus 20 degrees Celsius.

"We can only kindly advise our guests to smoke outside. But if they refuse, there is little we can do about it," said Sun.

Health officials said they have started to run workshops for people in the city's hospitality industry to prepare for the ban. They have also ramped up publicity campaigns to get the "no smoking" message across to the public.

Harbin is among seven Chinese cities included in a tobacco-free environmental promotion program jointly launched by the China CDC and the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (UNION) in 2010 to promote local anti-smoking legislation, said Yang, who used to serve as the China CDC's deputy director in charge of tobacco control. She said local anti-smoking rules are expected to pave the way for drafting a national tobacco control law.

Nanchang, another city in the program, was set to implement a smoking ban in restaurants, bars, and other entertainment venues in 2013. But the plan has been delayed until 2015 after lawmakers blocked the passage of the smoking ban, due to its tough wording.

Yang said she is confident the Harbin ban will be effectively enforced since it encourages individuals to report violations to city health authorities and other authorities. The ban calls for various sanctions, including warnings, publicizing infractions in order to shame violators, and also heavy fines.

Cris Tunon, a tobacco-free initiative officer with the WHO China Representative Office, said the experience of cities like New York, London, and Mexico City shows a high rate of compliance with anti-smoking regulations within a year of implementation, particularly in the hospitality and entertainment industries. He said there is no evidence the ban negatively affects their business.

Tunon said Harbin's tobacco-free legislation has set a good example not only for cities in China but also all countries in the region. He said it would be useful to document progress in enforcement and share it with other cities planning to adopt such a ban.