China Urged to Add Picture Warnings to Cigarette Packaging

By Matthew Bossons

Experts are urging China to drastically alter cigarette packaging in the country by adding pictorial warnings, according to People’s Daily Online. The call came at a forum organized by the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control in Beijing on November 13.

At the conference, it was stated that 118 countries and regions around the world have begun to include graphic pictures (of black lungs, clogged hearts and the like) on packages of cigarettes. Of those 118 nations, 105 of them have laws dictating that anti-smoking imagery must take up at least 50 percent of smoke boxes, while 15 require warnings take up no less that 75 percent of packaging.

China, which has the unfortunate designation as the country with the most smokers on earth, currently does not require tobacco companies to include warning images. People’s Daily Online quotes a senior tobacco control expert, name Xu Guihua, as stating that Chinese cigarette packages are ‘beautiful and fascinating’ at present. While we wouldn’t go as far as calling them beautiful, we’ll admit they are prettier to look at than cigarette boxes from Canada or the United States, which regularly feature gut-churning images of dead bodies, disgusting teeth and sad babies. 

Image via Pixabay

The World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control states that warnings on cigarette packing should meet the following criteria:

• shall be approved by the competent national authority

• shall be rotating

• shall be large, clear, visible and legible 

• should be 50 percent or more of the principal display areas but shall be no less than 30 percent of the principal display areas

• may be in the form of or include pictures or pictograms 

Specialists at the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control’s Beijing conference suggested that China move quickly to introduce warning imagery on tobacco products, noting that it is believed to be the most effective way of encouraging smokers to quit and stop youth from picking up the habit. 

Admittedly, authorities in China have been taking a tougher approach to smoking in recent years, with a number of legislative measures passed to limit smoking in public places and indoors. Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing already have strict smoking regulations in place, and those caught violating the rules can face serious fines. 

Following in the footsteps of other major Chinese cities, authorities in Guangzhou stated last year that smoking would no longer be tolerated indoors “in the near future.” Although this regulation has not seen consistent enforcement. 

Earlier this year, Beijing vowed to run a smoking-free Winter Olympics in 2022.

READ MORE: The Rise of Vaping in Tobacco-Hooked China

[Cover image by Matthew Bossons/That's]

You May Also Like...

Click "Read more" (阅读原文) below for more China news.