OLYMPICS/ News
Tobacco promotion will be banned by 2011
By Xie Chuanjiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-29 09:25
Despite a willingness to cooperate, the official said tobacco producers were lawful enterprises, and it was not fair to "butcher the industry".
"There is market demand for tobacco, people can choose if they smoke or not," he told China Daily.
He said tobacco firms are using scientific and technological improvements in tobacco products to "lower" the harmful effects of smoking.
However the WHO has long argued there is no way to make smoking healthier.
Yang Yan, a researcher with Chinese Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said 12 percent of deaths in China are caused by tobacco related illnesses, and by 2025, that figure will climb to 33 percent.
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