The Chinese government attaches great importance to tobacco control and has taken a lot of measures in this respect, according to a senior Chinese diplomat in Geneva yesterday.

"China attaches great importance to the health of people and tobacco control," Sha Zukang, Chinese ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said at a tobacco control conference of the World Health Organization (WHO).

"We have established a legal framework for tobacco control and public health development with statutes including the Law on Tobacco Monopoly, Advertisement Law, Law on the Protection of Minors, Law on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency as well as State Council's Regulation on Public Places Hygiene Management," Sha said.

He added that the Chinese government is also trying its utmost to make the 2008 Beijing Olympics tobacco-free.

The WHO opened the conference Monday in an effort to promote the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which was adopted in June 2003 and came into force on February 27, 2005.

The conference, which will go through into next week, is expected to make decisions in technical, procedural and financial matters relating to the implementation of the FCTC.

"China supports the international community in adopting tobacco control measures," Sha told the conference.

"We have actively participated in and promoted the development of the FCTC," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2006)