“…The new rules mean hotels and restaurants will for the first time have to offer smoke-free facilities in the Chinese capital…All public venues including fitness centres, offices, meeting rooms, toilets, and lifts in buildings must be completely smoke-free…”

Source: AFP

Beijing introduced sweeping new rules against smoking in public places Thursday in an effort to create a “smoke-free Olympics,” state press said.

The new rules mean hotels and restaurants will for the first time have to offer smoke-free facilities in the Chinese capital, where dining venues are often filled with an acrid haze.

All public venues including fitness centres, offices, meeting rooms, toilets, and lifts in buildings must be completely smoke-free from Thursday, state news agency Xinhua said.

Authorities in the Chinese capital have hired 100,000 inspectors to enforce the ban, the news agency said.

 People caught flouting the rules will be fined 10 yuan (1.4 dollars), and businesses face fines of up to 5,000 yuan, Xinhua said.

 Olympic venues and facilities for the 10,500 competitors expected here for the August 8-24 Games are already under stringent smoking bans.

 Originally officials wanted to introduce a broader ban making all Beijing bars and restaurants completely non-smoking, but owners fought back and the plan was dropped.

 China has about 350 million smokers, about a quarter of its population and one-third of the world’s smokers, according to official statistics.

 Bars and restaurants are often clouded in smoke, with diners routinely lighting up even as they eat.

 About one million people die of smoking-related diseases each year in China, according to the World Health Organisation.