Smoking population falls

The number of tobacco smokers in Beijing has dropped by about 200,000, three years after the city adopted a strict tobacco control regime, according to a Xinhua News Agency story quoting the city’s health authority.
The adult smoking rate in Beijing now stands at 22.3 percent, or 3.99 million smokers, 200,000 fewer than the figure for 2015, the commission for health improvement said.
Sixty-one hospitals are said to have opened smoking cessation clinics.
Meanwhile, the city has nearly 15,000 tobacco control volunteers; so about 1,600 ‘departments’ and more than 7,300 individuals have been punished for violations of the tobacco control regulations.
Medical establishments, schools and hotels are said to have a relatively high compliance rate in respect of smoking restrictions, while small restaurants, office buildings and entertainment venues ‘continue to pose difficulties for regulators’.