The Guangzhou Regulation on Smoking Control in Public Places took effect in September 2010, and it has already made an impact: the rate of smoking in public places has declined by 5.4%, and the smoking rate among the city’s citizens has decreased overall from 18.6% in 2009 to 17.4% in 2011.

The report was released by the Guangzhou Association on Tobacco Control, a Union grantee under the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use that has been working to promote tobacco control legislation for public places in the province. The study also recorded an increase in compliance among the public and a better understanding about the harms of smoking in enclosed public places.