In China, industry push-back stubs out anti-smoking gains

A man smokes a cigarette while looking at his mobile phone in front of a propaganda banner in Kunming, Yunnan province, China May 30, 2018. REUTERS/Wong Campion

BEIJING (Reuters) - Earlier this year, the city of Hangzhou, home to the internet giant Alibaba, was poised to join Beijing, Shanghai and a handful of other urban areas in banning smoking in public places, part of a long-running campaign against tobacco use in China.

But, like the country's broader anti-smoking campaign, the Hangzhou initiative then lost momentum. Instead of blanket bans on smoking in public indoor spaces, the city revised its regulations to allow smoking in designated areas in train or bus stations, as well as in bars or karaoke clubs.