Young people's perceptions of smoking and tobacco control in China: a qualitative study

Smoking cigarettes in China, as elsewhere in Asia, is strongly gender-related. Chinese adult males have among the world’s highest rates of smoking prevalence yet, Chinese women rarely smoke. Studies have suggested various influences on individuals’ smoking; however, few in-depth studies have exclusively explored young people’s perceptions of smoking, particularly through the lens of gender. Young people’s understanding of tobacco control policies is also important for designing effective implementation policies. The study applies both a micro-sociological and a macro-sociological approach using interviews and documents as the primary research methodology. The study showed that smoking culture needs to be examined in its historical context and that cigarette smoking serves an important social function in reinforcing friendships and social networks among Chinese men. The Chinese government has made significant achievements in tobacco control since joined the WHO framework convention on tobacco control in 2005. However, implementation needs to be stricter in order to achieve international levels of control, especially in taxes on tobacco product and the price of cigarettes. There is an urgent need for the regulation of e-cigarettes in China.