Beijing encourages public to report on indoor smoking

Residents in Beijing can report on indoor smoking in public venues after the smoking ban takes effect in June, a government official said on Sunday.

The Beijing municipal legislature passed a bill in November last year, banning smoking in all indoor public places, workplaces, and on public transportation.

Liu Zejun, director with Beijing Patriotic Health Campaign Committee, said tip-offs can be conducted via phone or by uploading pictures on popular messaging app WeChat.

"We will check places frequently reported and punish venue managers if smokers are found there," Liu said.

Law enforcement officers will patrol Beijing's roads starting in June to help implement the bill.

Doubts about the feasibility of the regulation have been climbing, as smokers are still seen puffing away in restaurants, schools and other public spaces in the capital city, despite previous smoking bans.

China has over 300 million smokers, with more than one million people dying as a result of tobacco-related illness a year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The country signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2003, which went into effect in 2006. According to the FCTC, China should have banned smoking in indoor public areas completely by 2011.