Beijing smoking ban "satisfactory": Official

Thanks to steady media coverage and public participation, the smoking ban Beijing introduced in June has been deemed "satisfactory", a Beijing official said Wednesday.

Beijing rolled out a blanket smoking ban on June 1 covering all indoor public places, workplaces and public transportation, the strictest of its kind in China.

Individual smokers caught violating the ban can be fined up to 200 yuan (32.21 U.S. dollars), while businesses can be slapped with fines of up to 10,000 yuan if they fail to discourage smoking on their premises.

Liu Hui, office head of the Beijing Association on Tobacco Control, described the first month of the ban as orderly and its control efforts satisfactory.

During the period, fines totalling 93,800 yuan were issued, including 89,000 yuan on institutions and establishments and 4,800 yuan on smokers, Liu said.

Over 15,000 people were mobilized to inspect government institutions, hospitals, schools, hotels, restaurants and other public venues. Around 23 percent of these venues failed the inspections, she added.

A few problems emerged including difficult enforcement among the migrant population, in office buildings and elderly communities, as well as insufficient funding and personnel, according to Liu.

Beijing has about 4.19 million smokers but only some 1,000 law enforcement personnel assigned to police the anti-smoking ban.

As the world's largest tobacco maker and consumer, China has more than 300 million smokers, almost the population of the U.S. Another 740 million people are exposed to second-hand smoke each year. Endi