Minor tax raise on tobacco fails to cut the number of smokers

A student from Yangzhou University demonstrates against smoking during a street campaign in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, on Sunday. [Photo by Meng Delong / For China Daily]

A recent official report has found that the number of smokers in China has increased and they are now smoking more cigarettes a day on average. China Youth Daily says this proves the attempt to control tobacco via minor tax adjustment has failed:

According to the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of smokers in China has increased by 15 million over the past five years, and there are now 316 million smokers in China, each of whom smokes 15.2 cigarettes a day on average, one more than five years ago.

Obviously, even though the State Administration of Taxation raised the retail tax on tobacco from 5 percent to 11 percent in July, it has failed to curb people's habit.

SAT has received a lot of revenue from the higher tobacco tax. In June, the tobacco tax nationwide increased by 4 billion yuan ($627 million) compared with last year.

It should be noted that price is not one of the primary factors determining whether a person smokes or not. Seldom do smokers care whether a cigarette they light costs 1 yuan (15 cents) or 1.05 yuan. Especially, as the consumer price index continues rising, higher tobacco prices do little to change smokers' behavior.

Another conclusion contrary to the theory of "higher tax, fewer smokers" is a recent report by the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, which quoted an official survey of 3,648 Japanese families, which found people with lower incomes tend to care less about their health and tend to smoke more.

Therefore it requires more than economic measures to control tobacco. Education and many other measures are needed to reduce the number of smokers.

Various levels of governments in China have been investing much energy in tobacco control. Since the Tobacco Control Framework Agreement came into effect in China in 2006, a total of 15 cities have passed or edited regional tobacco control regulations. These regulations need to be strictly enforced, so that people obey them.

(China Daily 12/31/2015 page8)