For many years China has been stepping up efforts to limit and reduce smoking.

Since the 1990s, the central government has brought in several rules and regulations prohibiting tobacco advertisements in newspapers, magazines and on TV. China ratified the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005 and promised to ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship by 2011.

Last year, the central government increased a tobacco tax by five percent. However, this hasn't caused tobacco prices to increase as expected. In May, the Health Ministry vowed to ban smoking in public places by 2011. Cities like Changsha and Chongqing have already implemented the ban.