Smoking ban violations mainly in Internet cafes, restaurants, officials say

Internet cafes and restaurants are the main violators of the city's anti-smoking laws, health authorities said on Thursday as they released a blacklist of 15 low ranked venues from a wave of unannounced inspections.

Authorities have imposed penalties on the violators.

During the inspections, officials said most public venues have installed "no-smoking" signs, however there are ashtrays and cigarette butts on the floors of some.

Venue staff also have failed to persuade smokers to stop, officials said.

Shanghai has launched smoking-control campaigns in recent years and won consecutive drops in the adult smoking rate for the past seven years. The rate was 19.4 percent last year, one of China's lowest.

To further control smoking in public places, local health authorities started in 2019 to do site investigations and release a blacklist of places with the highest complaints.

Public transport hubs, entertainment and sport venues, hotels, Internet cafes, restaurants and office buildings are areas with the highest numbers of complaints.

Officials said local residents can report offenders and offer tips on smoking-control violations through the Health cloud, or Jiankangyun, app and the no-smoking Shanghai WeChat account. The authority will investigate and impose penalties, if warranted, after inspection.