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| China orders officials to smoke | China orders officials to smoke |
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| A county in central China has ordered officials to smoke nearly a quarter of a million packs of cigarettes ever year in the hopes of raising tax revenues. | A county in central China has ordered officials to smoke nearly a quarter of a million packs of cigarettes ever year in the hopes of raising tax revenues. |
| Gong'an county told civil servants and teachers to smoke 230,000 packs of the locally-made Hubei brand each year. | Gong'an county told civil servants and teachers to smoke 230,000 packs of the locally-made Hubei brand each year. |
| Those who do not smoke enough, or are caught puffing on brands from other provinces, or overseas, face being fined or even fired. | Those who do not smoke enough, or are caught puffing on brands from other provinces, or overseas, face being fined or even fired. |
| The decision has led provincial leaders to order a review of the policy. | The decision has led provincial leaders to order a review of the policy. |
| A million people die from smoking-related diseases in China every year, but local officials were undeterred by the health risks. | |
| "The regulation will boost the local economy via the cigarette tax," Chen Nianzu, a member of the cigarette market supervision team in Gong'an county, Hubei province, told the Global Times newspaper. | |
| The paper said the measure could be an attempt to shore up the Hubei brands against tough competition from cigarettes produced in neighbouring Hunan province. | |
| Smoking is deep-rooted in Chinese culture - where more than half of all male doctors smoke - and there is still a general lack of awareness about the impact on health. | |
| But the authorities have recently started encouraging smokers to kick the habit - even imposing a ban on smoking in public buildings in the capital, Beijing, in the run up to the 2008 Olympic games. |