A survey released by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday indicates that the smoking rate in China dropped six percentage points in the ten years ending in 2003.

The smoking rate among Chinese aged 15 and older decreased from 32 percent in 1993 to 26 percent in 2003.

The survey, conducted in September and October of 2003, covered 57,000 households.

Among those surveyed, 48.9 percent of men and 3.2 percent of women smoked. The smoking rate was lower for men in urban areas, but higher for women.

Although a smaller proportion of the population is smoking now than a decade ago, the number of heavy smokers and quantity of cigarettes smoked have increased.

The MOH report indicates that this may be the reason cigarette sales have remained level during the past ten years.

Some 1.8 trillion cigarettes are sold in China every year to the country's 320 million smokers. About 1 million Chinese die each year as a direct result of smoking.

Since joining the World Trade Organization, China has slashed its average tariff rate on imported tobacco from 65 percent to 25 percent and is gradually opening the tobacco distribution sector.

With the markets in Europe and North America shrinking, China looms as a prime target for major tobacco producers.

However, except for lowering tariffs and opening up distribution, China's strict state monopoly on tobacco will be maintained in accordance with the WTO agreement.

The MOH survey also indicated that the rate of frequent alcohol drinkers dropped sharply during the past ten years.

"Among those aged 15 and above, 79.5 percent have never drunk or hardly drunk alcohol. About 12.3 percent drink alcohol occasionally and 8.2 percent drink alcohol frequently," the report said.

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn December 3, 2004)