About 16 percent of high school students in Beijing smoke cigarettes, and they have access to cigarettes near schools, according to a survey released by Beijing's health authority on Tuesday.
The survey, conducted by the Beijing Center for Diseases Prevention and Control (CDC) from April to May, gathered information from 1,654 primary and high schools on their smoking-ban policy, sales of cigarettes near schools and smokers in schools.
The survey found that 10 percent of the schools have not banned smoking.
Beijing's new smoking ban, which took effect on Monday, prohibits smoking in indoor public places and open-air spaces in schools and kindergartens.
The survey found that 53 percent of vocational high school students smoke cigarettes, and 4.3 percent of female high school students smoke.
Around 9 percent of faculty members in primary and high schools smoke in school, with 34 percent of male faculty members and 0.2 percent of female faculty members as smokers.
Beijing's new ban prohibits cigarette sales within 100 meters of schools, but the survey found that cigarette vendors are not far from Beijing schools.
Of the 1,654 schools surveyed, 588 have stores selling cigarettes within 100 meters or 36 percent. Some schools have at least 11 stores nearby selling cigarettes.
An inspection of 874 tobacco shops outside schools found that 73 percent of them have failed to post a "no tobacco products for juveniles" sign and 80 percent sell cigarettes to students.
The Beijing CDC said that the sale of cigarettes near schools significantly influences youth smoking, and it called on schools and relevant government agencies to do something about the school vicinity.
The Beijing CDC also issued a rule for smoke-free schools in Beijing Tuesday, which requires schools to assign part-time supervisors and set up no-smoking signs to remind parents to tell their children not to smoke.
Beijing has 4.19 million smokers or 23 percent of the city's population.
China is the world's largest cigarette producer and consumer. The number of smokers exceeds 300 million, with at least 740 million non-smokers regularly exposed to secondhand smoke, including 180 million children, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
