By Xinhua Writers Li Zhihui and Wu Yu
SHANGHAI, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Organizers of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo are to return a 200-million-yuan (29.3 million U.S. dollars) donation from a tobacco company after health experts raised objections to the sponsorship.
Xu Wei, spokesman of the Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau, told Xinhua Wednesday that the bureau annulled the sponsorship contract with the tobacco company and would return the money, although the timing and payment details had yet to be decided.
Xu would not name the company. Asked if it was the Shanghai Tobacco (Group) Corp. (STC), the only known tobacco sponsor of the Expo, Xu declined to comment.
STC is also the only company known to have donated at least 200million yuan.
An employee at STC's information office Wednesday told Xinhua she would ask her superior whether and how to comment on the issue, but the company failed to respond to requests for comment.
Xu said the bureau made the decision in order to commit itself to a healthy World Expo at the suggestion earlier this month of a group of about 20 public health experts.
The group included Cui Xiaobo, professor of the Capital Medical University, Hu Dayi, professor of the People's Hospital affiliated to Peking University, and Wu Yiqun, deputy director of the ThinkTank Research Center for Health Development, an anti-tabacco organization.
The STC, which produces China's major cigarette brands including Panda and Chung Hua, on May 7 donated 200 million yuan to build the China Pavilion, which is expected to cost 1.5 billion yuan.
The move triggered debate among the public.
Some held that tobacco companies had the right to contribute to society since tobacco production was a legal business.
But experts cited Article 13 of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), under which parties are obliged to undertake a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, at both domestic and international levels.
"As an FCTC member, China shall prohibit or restrict tobacco sponsorship of international events," Wu Yiqun said.
"If tobacco companies really want to contribute to society, they'd better not label their sponsorship. And they'd better print warnings on cigarette packaging about the dangers of tobacco," she said.
"The bureau failed to consider the anti-tobacco guidelines at first, but I'm really glad that the government corrected its action after experts pointed out the problem," Wu said. "It's a good start for the government's efforts to protect the public health from tobacco harms."
Wu sent a letter Tuesday to praise the bureau for turning down the donation.
More than 1 million Chinese die of diseases related to tobacco every year. The figure is estimated to rise to two million in the next 20 years, the letter said.
"The move has demonstrated the organizers' wisdom and resolution, which is worth far more than the 200-million-yuan donation," the letter said. "China held a tobacco-free Olympic Games last year. We believe Shanghai can also make the World Expo free from tobacco."
In 2003, China, the world's largest tobacco producer and consumer, signed the FCTC, which commits it to banning all tobacco advertising and promotions by 2011.
Since then, an increasing number of campaigns have been launched to prevent young people from smoking, reduce secondhand smoke and encourage smokers to kick the habit.
After the public objections, six tobacco companies, including the China National Tobacco Corp., were removed last December from the candidates for China Charity Award, the top government charity prize.
Deng Weizhi, head of the Shanghai Sociology Association, said besides supervision of the tobacco industry, the government needed to explore appropriate ways for tobacco companies to participate in charities within the framework of laws and international conventions.
