Media workers support smoking ban on screen

Chinese actress Li Bingbing smokes in a scene from the film The Message. [Photo/Agencies]

Smoking may be banned from the small and the big screen, and media workers are welcoming the idea.

According to the website of the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, the Health and Family Planning Committee issued a draft on Regulations on Smoking in Public, which will punish those who show smoking scenes in media platforms, including films, television and the Internet.

Failure to comply may result in fines and a possible order to halt business.

Renowned producer Yu Shengli, known for the hit television dramas Da Zhai Men and Legend of Bruce Lee, firmly supported the decision.

"Banning smoking on screen is a necessary step towards a modern society. It is putting emphasis on our environment, on the health of others, ourselves and those who are important to us," Yu said.

Renowned Chinese actor Pu Cunxin said he is supporting anti-smoking campaigns through theater.

"In The Gin Game (a play that Pu stars in), I hold a cigar between my teeth but I don't light it. I don't smoke habitually but I haven't tried to quit it either.

"The only time I smoked heavily was when I acted in the film Lu Xun, where there were lots of smoking scenes. I then wrote a proposal to ban smoking on- and off-screen through legislation. For those scenes that must appear, producers should pay the fees to broadcast anti-smoking commercials," said Pu.

Chinese director Zhang Li also supported the proposal.

"A cigarette as a state prop is not irreplaceable. The only problem is when filming great figures in history. So, I've worked around it by letting the actors hold the cigarettes without smoking them," said Zhang.