The number of women smokers has nearly tripled in Shanghai City despite their claims to be against smoking, researchers said.

After monitoring the smoking habits of 2,000 people over seven years, researchers from Fudan University found that 7.2 percent of women smoked in 2009, while the figure was less than two percent in 2002. There was no significant change among the smoking rate among men, which has continued to hover around the 48 to 50 percent mark throughout the same period.

"Increasing social tolerance of women smokers and tobacco companies using aggressive marketing tactics to target women are the main reasons for the change," the lead researcher, Fu Hua, professor of public health at Fudan University, said at Thursday's tobacco control conference, ahead of World No Tobacco Day, which falls on May 31 every year.

Meanwhile, the research also found that more than 90 percent of the women monitored by the study supported tobacco control measures, while the rate among men was 86 percent.

In March, the city began to enforce its first law banning smoking, which applies to 13 types of public venues, such as schools, hospitals, museums, shopping malls, game rooms, Internet cafe and elevators.

According to the law, public venues should establish designated non-smoking areas and people found smoking in banned areas face fines of 50 yuan (US$7) to 200 yuan, if they refuse to put out their cigarettes.

During the first two months of the law being enforced, random checks found that most establishments were complying with the law, including posting No Smoking signs and designating no-smoking areas.

The city is attempting to hold the first smoke-free World Expo in the history of the 159-year-old event.

The Fudan Media and Public Opinion Research Center polled 510 residents in the city over the issue and found that 96.8 percent of residents supported the effort.

(China Daily May 28, 2010)