Law ought to ban smoking in all public places

Over the past half a year since I moved to Beijing to be the World Health Organization representative in China, I have seen for myself and have been encouraged by the progress made by cities to make public spaces smoke-free.

Recently, I was in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, to celebrate the city's smoke-free regulation, which took effect on Nov 1. During my time in China here, I have realized how important such bans are and how much people appreciate them, even many smokers, who realize that such bans also protect their family members, particularly children, from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.

Becoming 100 percent smoke-free starts with the political will to make it happen. The Chinese government demonstrated its commitment in 2003 when it became party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. It reiterated that commitment five years ago this December, when the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, China's Cabinet, released a notice calling for government officials to "walk the talk" by not smoking in public places or at public government events. More recently, President Xi Jinping's Healthy China 2030 vision contains specific targets to reduce adult smoking by the year 2030.