Students begin to smoke at a younger age

SHANGHAI - Almost one in four students aged between 12 and 14 have tried smoking, according to the results of a survey released by the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control (CATC).

The survey, carried out among 38,839 students and 6,503 teachers from middle and high schools in 11 provinces across the country between May and June, showed that 22.5 percent of students aged between 12 and 14 had tried smoking and that 15.8 percent of middle and high school students smoke regularly.

"There are definitely quite a number of boy students in my class who smoke regularly as some have been found smoking outside campus during lunch break," said Li Xiaolan, an English teacher from a high school in Shanghai.