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A boy lights a cigarette for his father on May 26 in Shaoyang, Hunan province. (Photo: China Daily)
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BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- A tobacco usage survey of Chinese people released on Tuesday shows a big increase in the rate of exposure to secondhand smoke among Chinese people. The rate jumped from 53 percent in 2002 to about 73 percent in 2010.
The survey in China done by Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was conducted from December last year through March, covering more than 13,000 people over the age of 15.
Nearly 770 million non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke, the survey said.
"It seems that little improvement was made in the exposure to secondhand smoke," said Yang Gonghuan, director of the tobacco control office of the CDC.
According to the survey, more than 58 percent of non-smokers noticed smoking in government buildings, which ranked second in the type of buildings that had public smoking. Restaurants were in first place.
"The exposure rate in China is increasing sharply and the number is amazing," said Douglas Bettcher, director of the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative.
The Ministry of Health announced in May this year that smoking will no longer be allowed inside the ministry building as of May 31, which was believed to be a step toward implementing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
China joined the FCTC in 2005. Under the convention, all member countries are obliged to undertake a comprehensive ban on tobacco in public places by 2011.
