Calling for “tobacco-free” GDP

• Source: The Global Times
• [09:13 May 31 2009]
• Comments

Today is World No Tobacco Day. This is an embarrassing day for China. China boasts the world’s biggest tobacco sales, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the international consumption of cigarettes. China also has the world’s biggest population of smokers. A total of 350 million Chinese smokers annually consume 1.7 trillion cigarettes.

Meanwhile, China’s tobacco exports only account for 3.5 percent of the world’s total. This means most of the tobacco and cigarettes produced in China are consumed here, and form a main source of tax revenue.

The tobacco industry has generated hefty taxes for the nation, representing 8 percent of government revenues, according to data released by the World Bank. Since 1987, the tobacco industry has been the biggest source of China’s tax revenues. In some provinces the industry has contributed almost half of the yearly GDP. Also, an estimated 4 million Chinese work either on farms or in factories producing tobacco-related goods.

Governments, overly-reliant on the industry, have become intertwined with the tobacco corporations. Therefore, any move that might affect the tobacco industry’s interests will be resisted.

For instance, warning labels are usually omitted from packages in order to protect the industry’s profits, which has a negative influence on public awareness of the health risks of tobacco.

For decades, the movement to control tobacco usage has been unable to make any breakthrough because of local authorities’ reluctance to establish and enforce relevant tobacco-control regulations.

The nationwide prevalence of smoking has had severe health consequences. Smoking-related diseases including emphysema, lung cancer and chronic bronchitis kill 1 million people every year in China, according to the World Health Organization.

The health crisis caused by smoking damages China’s healthcare system. Research conducted in 2005 showed the direct and indirect costs of treating smoking-related diseases surpassed the total industrial and commercial tax revenues garnered from the tobacco industry.

In recent years, key multinational tobacco corporations have further expanded the tobacco market and consolidated market share in China, with sales rising considerably.

However, no country in the world has become rich because of its tobacco industry. Almost 75 percent of the world’s smokers live in developing countries. Only after becoming a healthy country with a reasonable dependence on the tobacco industry can China grow into a world power.

In its tobacco-control efforts, China needs to help more people quit smoking. More specific standards are needed to measure local reductions in cigarette production and consumption.
Clear measures should also be implemented to encourage provinces whose revenues depend too much on tobacco production to diversify their tax base.

China is calling for a “green GDP.” But we should also be calling for a “tobacco-free” GDP.