Chinese media to run anti-smoking ad  

控烟公益广告将在央视和多家省级电视台播放1个月

China's TV channels at or above the provincial level as well as major video websites and portals will have a one-month "intense run" of a public service anti-smoking advertisement starting on Monday.

Titled "Supporting the ban on public smoking for yourself and others," the advertisement is part of a month-long anti-smoking campaign initiated by the China Center for Health Education, according to a statement Monday from the National Health and Family Planning Commission, which supervises the center.

"Running the advertisement aims to ... raise public awareness of the harms of tobacco and mobilize the entire society to voluntarily resist smoking and stay away from tobacco," said Mao Qun'an, spokesman with the commission.

Mao stressed that smoking control is still an arduous task for the country despite various efforts in legislation, administration, finance and public promotion, and many people don't know enough about the diseases and harm induced by smoking and second-hand smoke.

China is home to over 300 million smokers, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the world's smoking population. At least 740 million non-smokers in the country are subject to second-hand smoke, according to official statistics.