China orders crackdown on smoking in films, television

Feb 13, 2011, 10:54 GMT

Beijing - China's film and television watchdog Sunday ordered a crackdown on the 'frequent smoking scenes' in Chinese productions, saying they were setting a bad example to youngsters.

'Frequent smoking scenes in films and television dramas do not accord with China's stance on tobacco control and will mislead the public, especially the young,' said a notice posted on the website of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

Films and television dramas should avoid showing tobacco brands or smoking scenes that included youngsters, the notice said.

If smoking was essential, the scene should be 'as short as possible,' it said.

Government censors should try to negotiate the cutting of smoking scenes with film and television producers, the notice said.

The order follows criticism last month that China had failed to deliver its promises under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which it ratified in 2003 and should have implemented from 2006.

About one-third of 11,000 teenagers who responded to a recent survey at schools in Beijing said they wanted to try smoking after seeing actors doing it, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Last month's report by Chinese government and international experts said annual deaths from smoking in China could be set to triple from 1.2 million to 3.5 million over the next few years.

The report noted that implementation of tobacco control was the responsibility of a group that includes the China Tobacco Corporation, the world's largest tobacco manufacturer, and the State Tobacco Monopoly, which is under the same management.

China has an estimated 300 million smokers and is the world's largest producer and consumer of cigarettes.

Cigarettes account for some 7 per cent of the state's revenue, leading some to conclude that the government cannot afford to impose strict regulation of the industry.

Some poor rural areas of China rely heavily on revenue from tobacco growing and cigarette production, making provincial governments more ambivalent about discouraging smoking.

But economists and health specialists point out that the national cost of health care outweighs profits from tobacco sales.

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