On-screen smoking scenes declining

Smoking scenes in Chinese movies and TV series have generally declined over the past decade, but not all producers are keen on extinguishing such on-screen depictions. Last year's figures were worse than in 2016, according to an anti-tobacco group.

Actors and anti-smoking activists have called for a movie rating system and stricter regulation over domestic movies and TV series to reduce scenes depicting characters lighting up, so as to lessen any negative effects on young people.

Among the 30 most-watched Chinese films last year, The Founding of an Army had the longest total smoking scene time - 1,145 seconds - accounting for 14.3 percent of the film's total run time, said Liao Wenke, deputy director of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control.