-
Advertorial
-
FOCUS
-
Guide
-
Lifestyle
-
Tech and Vogue
-
TechandScience
-
CHTF Special
-
Nanhan
-
Asian Games
-
Hit Bravo
-
Special Report
-
Junior Journalist Program
-
World Economy
-
Opinion
-
Diversions
-
Hotels
-
Movies
-
People
-
Person of the week
-
Weekend
-
Photo Highlights
-
Currency Focus
-
Kaleidoscope
-
Tech and Science
-
News Picks
-
Yes Teens
-
Fun
-
Budding Writers
-
Campus
-
Glamour
-
News
-
Digital Paper
-
Food drink
-
Majors_Forum
-
Speak Shenzhen
-
Business_Markets
-
Shopping
-
Travel
-
Restaurants
-
Hotels
-
Investment
-
Yearend Review
-
In depth
-
Leisure Highlights
-
Sports
-
World
-
QINGDAO TODAY
-
Entertainment
-
Business
-
Markets
-
Culture
-
China
-
Shenzhen
-
Important news
在线翻译:
szdaily -> Shenzhen
Violators of smoking ban fined
     2014-September-2  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    Anne Zhang

    zhangy49@gmail.com

    THE operator of a coffee shop in Longgang District was fined 30,000 yuan (US$4,863) for not complying with the city’s smoking law March 25, less than a month after Shenzhen started implementing it.

    Three weeks later, law enforcement agents fined the operator of a restaurant in Longhua New Area 10,000 yuan for selling cigarettes without having smoking ban signs.

    In addition to the two businesses, 4,837 individuals were fined a total of 242,300 yuan for smoking in public places during the first six months of the ban’s enforcement, Sun Meihua, deputy director of the city’s health and family planning commission, said yesterday.

    The law, which took effect March 1 this year, bans smoking in indoor workplaces, public buildings, restaurants, public transportation and other locations. The law is said to be the strictest of its kind in China. Shenzhen introduced its first smoking law in 1998, but nobody was ever fined under that law.

    Now, individual violators have been fined between 50 yuan and 500 yuan. Operators of nonsmoking venues will be fined up to 30,000 yuan if they fail to comply with the ban.

    More than 115,000 law enforcement officers persuaded 27,769 smokers to cease smoking in off-limits areas and inspected over 70,000 nonsmoking public venues in the past six months, Sun said.

    Sun’s commission is charged with the law’s implementation, with help from other government departments. The urban management, market supervision, police and transportation departments are also involved.

    Yang Weihua with the market supervision bureau said most public venues that rectified their wrongdoings within a given time frame weren’t subjected to financial punishment.

    Operators of nonsmoking public venues must persuade visitors not to smoke. Otherwise, they could face a fine of 30,000 yuan, according to the law. Yang said it’s difficult, however, to collect evidence when a nonsmoking public venue doesn’t comply.

    Yue Pengfei with Shenzhen Police Bureau said it’s also difficult to implement the law in Internet bars and game rooms, where smoking is rampant.

    “Banning smoking is a long-term operation. The government should promote public education to enhance awareness about the issue,” Yue said.

    The city plans to enroll some volunteers to persuade smokers in public places to give up smoking. It has also conceived the idea to set up an online platform that tracks violators’ records and personal information, including pictures of them, to assist law enforcement officers with evidence collecting, Sun said.

深圳报业集团版权所有, 未经授权禁止复制; Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.
Shenzhen Daily E-mail:szdaily@szszd.com.cn