Officials should not to smoke in public places or use public funds for cigarettes and should create smokefree government buildings
The Communist Party’s Central Office and the State Council Office released a joint notice on 29 December 2013 requesting public officials not to smoke in public places, not to use public funding to purchase cigarettes and to create smokefree government buildings. This important policy change is the result of recent advocacy on the part of a group of prominent scholars and as well as the strong momentum from local smokefree initiatives, which The Union China Office has been leading over the past four years. This notice is widely considered a breakthrough and an excellent opportunity for making broader policy changes in tobacco control in China.
Subsequently, the Guangzhou government held a conference on 30 December to announce the policy and request that municipal buildings go smokefree within the next six months. The Mayor is also seeking to strengthen enforcement of the city’s tobacco control law and improve public education, as well as to create 100% smokefree venues.
Tianjin and Jinan, two other cities with which The Union has been working, also took quick action to use this opportunity to push upcoming municipal People’s Congress and People’s Political Consultative Congress – the two highest local political conferences attended by selected people representatives — to go completely smokefree.