The All-China Environment Federation, together with more than 300 environmental nongovernmental organizations, invited all civil society organizations in China to form an alliance promoting tobacco control.

At the 2010 Annual Meeting of Chinese Environmental Civil Society Organizations on Sustainable Development in Hangzhou on Nov 13, a proposal was released, which suggested rejecting support from tobacco businesses in any form, for the benefit of the public.

The proposal supports China's commitment to implement the international Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came into force on Jan 9, 2006.

The commitment, according to the convention, includes protecting the public from tobacco smoke, and banning advertisements, sales promotions and sponsorship of or from tobacco businesses.

2010 marks the fifth year since the commitment was made. Yet there are still some tobacco businesses promoting their products by becoming title sponsors of major sports events, or even Project Hope, said Ding Yaoxian, deputy head of the Baotou City Environment Federation in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

"Tobacco companies are just taking a tiny sum from their enormous profits and hoping to expand their sales under the guise of corporate social responsibility and charity," Ding said at the Hangzhou meeting.

Zeng Xiaodong, vice-chairman and secretary general of the All-China Environment Federation, has more smokers and a higher death rate of diseases caused by smoking than any other country.

China has 350 million smokers, 180 million of whom are teenagers. Another 540 million are suffering from second-hand smoke.

Every year 5.4 million people die of smoking, almost one fifth of them from China. If the situation continued to worsen, another 100 million will die by 2050, half of them age 30 to age 60.

Although the situation is grave, tobacco control in China has made some limited progress.

In a report released by the Worth Health Organization, a February 2009 survey showed only 37 percent of Chinese smokers knew smoking causes coronary heart disease and only 17 percent knew it causes strokes.

Another 2004 survey showed that, while 95 percent of physicians knew smoking causes lung cancer, only 66 percent knew it causes heart disease. Tobacco kills far more people through heart disease than through cancer.

"The ultimate resort of tobacco control is through legislation," said Zeng.

In 2004, Ireland became the first country to outlaw smoking in public places through legislation, including all the offices, restaurants, bars and hotels.

Eighty percent of Canadians and 50 percent of Americans now live in regions that have smoke-free public places, including offices, bars and restaurants.

Since 2007, the All-China Environment Federation has been proposing a "Smoking Control Act".

In cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, there have been regulations banning smoking in some public places, but the definition of these public places is limited and, vague, and punishment is non-specific, making such regulations hard to implement, said Zeng.

"During the Beijing Olympic Games, for example, all the city's public places were almost completely smoke-free, which was praised by athletes from all over the world," he said. "But the effects of the regulations failed to last after the Game ended."

He said it is never too late to start tobacco control in China and to reach this goal through legislation has become an international trend.

"I believe in 2011, when China's commitment to implement the international Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is due, a 'Smoking Control Act' will come out," Said Zeng.