Beijing's tobacco control efforts now bearing fruit

More than 1,700 individuals and establishments in Beijing have been penalized for violating the city's tobacco control regulation since it came into effect in June, according to Beijing's top health authority.

By the end of March, Beijing's health authorities had issued 7,193 notices to premises and imposed penalties on 376 of them for failing to rectify problems, Zheng Jinpu, an official at the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning, said on Wednesday.

In addition, law enforcement officers imposed fines on 1,331 people by the end of March for violating the regulation, with total fines on owners and individuals reaching 1.05 million yuan ($162,000), he said.