Clearing the red haze

AS THE world's leading producer and consumer of tobacco, China saw cigarette output and the number of smokers both increase by 3 per cent last year. China has 300 million smokers, which is more than the population of the us. o4owever, despite the booming business, tobacco barons of the country are bracing themselves against the onslaught of the anti-smoking lobby.

in anticipation of the World Health organization's conference on smoking w be held in Beijing in 1997, officials in seijing, Shanghai and Wuhan have *afted legislation banning smoking in public places. The country's first law manning advertisements for cigarettes was enacted this year.

In the southern province of Yunnan, so per cent of its 1 million farmers produce tobacco. But the region already preparing itself for a future in ,which tobacco is likely to play a lesser @ole. Diversification into forestry and animal husbandry, fertilisers, printing and packaging material production is in the pipeline, along with plans to ptoduce and export better quality cigarettes.(IPS)

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