Health officials have called for a complete ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship as a draft amendment to the Advertisement Law is under review by China's top legislature and expected to be put to a vote before the end of this month.
"A partial advertising ban will not work to reduce tobacco use,"Angela Pratt, head of the Tobacco Free Initiative at the World Health Organization's China office, said.
"Experience around the world tells us if we have a tobacco advertising ban with loopholes or some exemptions, the tobacco industry will inevitably shift its marketing strategies and resources to other forms of advertising promotion and sponsorship. We have seen that in every country that has introduced a partial advertising ban," she said.
The draft amendment to the Advertisement Law, adopted in 1995, proposes more restrictions on advertising, such as forbidding tobacco enterprises from advertising on the Internet, but still allows advertising in retail shops, and allows producers to send ads to retailers.
This is the third time the draft amendment has been reviewed by the National People's Congress since August last year.
"An advertising ban which exempts tobacco retail outlets is an advertising ban which includes 5.4 million loopholes," Pratt said.
There were 5.42 million licensed tobacco retailers in China by the end of 2012, which means one for every 250 people, according to the China Association on Tobacco Control.
"This shows tobacco products are highly attainable in China," the association said. "Tobacco enterprises have been promoting their products in retail shops in different ways such as inviting people to smoke to improve sales. Such promotion activities are alluring young people to smoke."
After many years' efforts fighting smoking, tobacco consumption is still on the rise in China, and advertisements still exist in different forms, encouraging people, in particular the young, to smoke, Xu Guihua, deputy director of the China Association on Tobacco Control, said.
"I strongly urge legislators to ban all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship," she said. "With loopholes, our gap with some advanced countries in tobacco control will get bigger."
According to a report earlier this month, the association found between November and February this year 151 promoting and sponsoring activities by tobacco enterprises. Of all 62 promotion activities, nearly half involved "cigarette appreciation seminars" (where people are invited to taste brands of cigarette). Of all 89 sponsorship activities, 92 percent involved donations from tobacco enterprises to schools, poverty or disaster relief, the report said.
