Fighting cigarettes hits the state’s wallet: Can China crack down on smoking?

In China, stepping off a high-speed train in a new city often means being greeted not by fresh urban air, but by a pungent blast of cigarette smoke. Stationary smokers are easy enough to avoid — a few quick steps and you are past them. But when someone is puffing away as they walk, you are left trailing behind, involuntarily inhaling secondhand smoke. A helpless glance in their direction is usually met with a dismissive glare, as if to say: “Is it any of your business?”

This frustration can only be vented online. Long-suffering Chinese netizens have rallied against secondhand smoke, and their complaints have gradually evolved into an all-out online “war against smoking”.

The offensive began with the “renaming” of high-speed rail stations. Unable to stand the clouds of smoke on the platforms, some netizens have quietly photoshopped station signs to read “Beijing Smoking South Station”, “Xi’an Smoking North Station”, with the slogan: “Don’t let every stop on the way home become a smoke-filled stop!”

Anti‑smoking advocates know full well that persuasion alone will not get smokers to stub out their cigarettes. Some have even invoked the national birth rate agenda, using the Chinese concept of “以退为进” (retreat to advance): “I don’t want my kids breathing secondhand smoke from day one. I’ll have children only when the state bans smoking.”

Others have adopted a more “mystical” approach, creating anti-smoking posters for people to print and paste in elevators: “No smoking in the lift, and the God of Wealth will bless you; light up, and poverty will follow.” Another group has gone on the offensive online, leaving negative reviews for restaurants and entertainment venues that allow smoking, lowering their ratings to pressure them into going smoke-free.

The more hardline advocates have taken to the streets, confronting smokers directly. Since October 2025, a British live blogger named Alan has posted over a hundred clips of himself asking people to extinguish their cigarettes in public places across China, attracting hundreds of thousands of followers. Chinese netizens have dubbed him “the modern-day Lin Zexu (China’s anti-opium commissioner)”.

It is not only netizens who are fighting secondhand smoke. Shenzhen’s Health Commission, known for its sharp public health messaging, has weighed in twice in February 2026 with posts supporting tobacco control. In mid-February, it highlighted a case in which a woman developed lung cancer due to gene mutations after years of exposure to her husband’s smoking. Following the sudden death of Chinese education influencer Zhang Xuefeng from cardiac arrest, the Commission posted again on 26 March to warn that smoking and secondhand smoke can seriously damage the heart.

In fact, Shenzhen’s health authorities have long called for tobacco control. A rough count shows that they have published over ten posts on the subject in the past year alone, reflecting to some extent the official stance on smoking.

As early as 2005, China ratified the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, pledging to ban smoking in public places. Over the years, local governments have gradually introduced their own tobacco control regulations. According to data from the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, by May 2024, 24 provinces had issued provincial-level rules and 254 cities had adopted municipal-level regulations on smoking control.

Take Shanghai, for example. After cracking down in 2025 on people smoking while walking at several internet-famous landmarks — imposing fines of up to 200 RMB (US$29) for ignoring warnings — authorities have stepped up their efforts this year by designating bus stops as official no-smoking zones.

In reality, however, even in Shanghai, where tobacco control is relatively strict and residents are generally more civic-minded, it is hard to escape the smell of smoke. Whenever an electric scooter whizzes past, trailing a cloud of cigarette smoke from the rider, bystanders can only hold their breath — helpless to protest.

Why is it so hard to control smoking in China? The country is the world’s largest producer and consumer of tobacco, with about 350 million smokers. When the subject of tobacco control comes up, a familiar line is often trotted out: the money to build aircraft carriers and J-20 fighter jets are contributed by smokers.

The numbers give this claim some basis. In 2025, China’s tobacco industry generated 1.66 trillion RMB in combined industrial and commercial tax and profit, of which 1.58 trillion RMB went to the state coffers. This accounted for 7% of narrow fiscal revenue nationwide —  more than the combined annual take from stamp duty and property tax, and close to the total from personal income tax.

But if we look only at the fiscal contribution, the calculation is far too one-sided. The damage to health, medical costs and loss in productivity due to smoking are also a heavy burden. A 2017 report by the WHO and UNDP estimated that tobacco consumption in China led to economic losses of 350 billion RMB in 2014, ten times the level in 2000.

Research by Zheng Rong, professor at the School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, and other researchers showed that in 2020, direct medical costs caused by smoking and productivity losses due to smokers’ premature death or disability totalled 2.43 trillion RMB — about 900 billion RMB more than the fiscal revenue generated by tobacco that year.

Another difficulty in tobacco control lies in low tobacco taxes. Since the last increase in 2015, rates have not been adjusted for years; tobacco excise currently accounts for 52% of the retail price, far below the WHO’s recommended 75%. With this light tax burden, cigarettes costing 5 to 10 RMB a pack are readily available, and the threshold for picking up smoking remains low.

Moreover, China has yet to enact a comprehensive national-level smoking ban. Local rules exist, but most focus on “control” rather than an outright ban, and enforcement and deterrent effects are relatively limited. In everyday life, discouraging smoking is still more about self-awareness than about clear, rigid rules.

However, mindset issues may pose an even deeper challenge than institutional factors. Once, during an interview, an interviewee lit a cigarette the moment he closed the front door of his home. His daughter, who was under ten, was right there — but he seemed completely unaware of the dangers of secondhand smoke. If someone does not even consider their own child’s health, how can we expect them to care about strangers in public?

Of course, the problem does not stem solely from indifference; it can also arise from a lack of awareness about the risks. That is why tobacco control is not only a matter of regulation but also of public education. In the end, smoking is a personal choice. All that the people want is for smokers to look at the environment around them first, before getting out their lighters.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “中国网络禁烟大战”.

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