Beijing is considering a ban on smoking in public areas including Olympic venues during next year's Olympic Games, local media reported.

 

The Beijing Daily said that according to a draft regulation on tobacco-free Games by the municipal government, smoking would be prohibited at eight Olympics-related areas such as venues, hotels, restaurants, public transport and the Olympic Village, and offenders face a fine of 10 yuan (US$1.3).

 

But special smoking areas can be set aside in those places, added the paper.

 

The concept of a "non-smoking" Olympic Games, initiated in 1988, was put into practice in Barcelona in 1992.

 

But it remains to be an arduous task for Beijing. It is estimated that 350 million people, about 26 percent of the country's population and a third of the world's smoking population, are hooked on nicotine.

 

China reports about one million deaths from smoking-related diseases each year, and the figure is expected to triple by 2050.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2007)