The tobacco epidemic is a worldwide phenomenon with significantly destructive effects on developing, transitional, and industrialized nations. The first scientific evidence on the health consequences of tobacco consumption-specifically, smoking-was discovered in industrialized nations. As a...

China has a very high prevalence rate of cigarette smoking. According to a 1996 Chinese national survey, 63% of adult males (age 15 and over) and 3.8% of adult females were current smokers (Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, 1997). These prevalence rates indicate that there are over 320...

More than 320 million people in China smoke, which accounts for nearly one-third of all the smokers in the world. Almost two-thirds of adult Chinese men are smokers. On the other hand, tobacco production is a state-run enterprise that provides substantial earnings and tax revenue for the...