Imposing a strict law to ban smoking will protect non-smokers against passive smoking and create a social environment that will put pressure on smokers to quit smoking. The public is happy that the new regulations focus more on public health and give special protection to women and children, most of whom are non-smokers and suffer the consequences of passive smoking.

Legislation is crucial in any anti-smoking campaign, because smoking has been part of social interaction for centuries in China, which many people have come to accept, if only reluctantly. Even non-smokers aware of the negative impact of passive smoking find it difficult to stop smokers from poisoning them given the prevalent social custom and China's unique "face" culture. A legal ban on smoking thus conveys to smokers the "non-tolerant" attitude of the authorities and the public toward smoking in public places. And this will help curb the spread of this unhealthy habit.

The new regulations stress on the legal responsibilities and obligations of public organizations in tobacco control. Several local organizations have issued no-smoking notices in public places, but the enforcement has been less than satisfactory, because they lack enough supervision mechanisms to enforce the ban and many business organizations are unwilling to offend smokers if they are clients or customers. Under the new regulations, however, the public has the right to report to the authorities the violation of the ban by individuals by dialing the 12320 hotline or sending a message through WeChat public account "smoking-free". The reported cases will be dealt with according to the law, including imposing fines on the violators.

But, like many other regulations in China, the ban on smoking too faces the problem of enforcement. Liu Zejun, director of Beijing Patriotic Public Health Campaign Committee, says Beijing has less than 1,000 law-enforcement personnel to impose the ban on more than 4 million smokers. Beijing International Airport closed all the 36 smoking rooms in the terminals on the 24th World No Tobacco Day on June 1, 2011. But some of the smoking rooms were reopened after six months because of "passengers' demand".

Still, the new regulations are a good beginning to create a smoking-free world, even though law enforcement will test the authorities' determination, responsibility and administrative ability. And we hope the new regulations will succeed where earlier ones failed despite the best intentions.

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