More than 301 million people are still smoking in China, despite efforts to curb tobacco use, according to the country’s Centre for Disease Control. A survey of more than 13,000 people earlier this year found no significant improvement in the country’s smoking rate since 2002, China’s CDC said in a joint statement released with the World Health Organization and the United States CDC. The survey also found that almost three quarters of nonsmokers reported being exposed to secondhand smoke. Though China has pledged to make indoor public places, workplaces and public transport smoke-free ... Jump to full article >>

A three-year-old has mysteriously picked up an addiction to smoking cigarettes and downing beers after surviving a road crash. Ya Wen has been smoking up to a pack a day since the accident last year when she was hit by a speeding van. Her parents say that her personality has changed since leaving hospital, where she recovered from five days in a coma and severe injuries. Her mother Gao said she has started acting like an adult. ‘She likes drinking,’ she said. ‘Three glasses of beer is no problem to her.’ Her mother, who collects rubbish to sell in Huizhou, China, said s ... Jump to full article >>

China’s Ministry of Health today banned smoking in hospitals but health advocates and anti-smoking activists say a promised national ban on smoking in public places has yet to take shape. China’s 300 million smokers consume a third of the world’s cigarettes. A million of them die each year from smoking-related illnesses, burdening families and the public health system. That figure is expected to increase to two million by 2020, according to a study by the Paris-based International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. But activists say they have not yet seen signs of ... Jump to full article >>

China is home to 30 percent of smokers across the worlds, an as well is the largest cigarette maker and tobacco grower. Such enormous tobacco consumption resulted in severe health complications among Chinese people, so China government has recently initiated a campaign to reduce smoking in the country together with Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Finances, local and international charity organizations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Bloomberg Initiative. After ratifying the landmark worldwide Convention on Tobacco Control, Chinese officials have been committed ... Jump to full article >>

Anti-smoking advocates including 17 senior legislators and political consultants are urging that laws be passed to ban donations or sponsorships from tobacco companies for Chinese events, such as expos, festivals and athletic events. The measure is expected to be enacted by the top legislature within a year. “The message will be conveyed to the coming two sessions to fuel the anti-smoking efforts,” said Wu Yiqun, deputy director of the Thinktank Research Center for Health Development, a Beijing-based nongovernmental organization, yesterday. The two sessions are the annual plenary m ... Jump to full article >>

As China winds down from its biggest ever binge of spring festival feasting and fireworks, environmentalists have launched a new drive to persuade consumers to spend more responsibly. Shoppers have been asked to think twice before buying products made by Carlsberg, Hitachi, Phillips, Motorola and more than a dozen other firms linked with factories that have polluted or failed to disclose emissions data. Supported by 34 prominent NGOs, the campaign is seen as an important step towards a green consumer movement – a long-awaited development in China, where the spending power of the middle-class ... Jump to full article >>

China has been moving forward quickly in regards to sustainability, especially in terms of new building construction. There has been no shortage of reporting about the new office tower in Guangzhou, China, which may be the world’s most energy-efficient when completed. The 71-story Pearl River tower, designed by the New York-based architecture firm, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, is intended to be a “zero-energy” skyscraper that generates all the energy it needs to operate on its own. In terms of green building this is a terrific story. In terms of who owns it…not so grea ... Jump to full article >>

An independent special taskforce will be established to conduct surprise checks at medical institutions, including hospitals and health administrations, across China this year to enforce the ban on smoking, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Monday. The latest initiative came amid the country’s ongoing battle against the use of tobacco, which claims 1 million Chinese lives every year. The MOH aims to turn “at least half of the medical institutions nationwide” smoke-free before the end of the year, and include all of them by 2011. “Those found guilty of derelictio ... Jump to full article >>

A Chinese tobacco company has been given permission to market their product and create a new generation of smokers at an elementary school, state media reported. Built in the wake of last year’s deadly earthquake in Sichuan province, the Sichuan Tobacco Project Hope Primary School is funded by China Tobacco Company, the Beijing Daily reported. Young students are exposed to banners throughout the campus such as “Work hard for society! Tobacco can help you become an achiever!” Tobacco is a leading cause of cancer and effects of the marketing messages will mislead students into thinking tha ... Jump to full article >>

Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. (NYSE: SWM) (”Schweitzer-Mauduit” or “the company”) today announced that it plans to publicly offer 1.8 million shares of its common stock in an underwritten offering. In addition, the company intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of shares sold. Goldman, Sachs & Co. is serving as the sole book-running manager for the offering. Co-managers for the offering include SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc., Davenport & Company LLC and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. The company intends to use ... Jump to full article >>

They are cigarette-shaped sweets that are packaged like cigarettes. At first glance, the sweet boxes look like real cigarette boxes. Parents are worried that such sales gimmick may eventually tempt children to start smoking. Ibrahim Tapa, 38, said the products, known as ‘Smoke Candy’ here, were believed to be imported from China and were sold at 50 sen per box. Unethical and illegal This kind of gimmick by traders goes against the government’s anti-smoking policy, where millions of ringgit is spent to discourage people from picking up the smoking habit and is making a mockery of the gove ... Jump to full article >>