Smoking Environments in China: Challenges for Tobacco Control

This book fills a major gap in research into smoking and tobacco control in China. In recent decades, few studies have explored the significance of geographical factors and the role they have played either in affecting the prevalence of smoking or in tobacco control responses to the smoking epidemic in China. In light of this, the book investigates the importance of national, regional and local environmental factors affecting smoking in China. It shows how geographical, social and institutional contexts have influenced the implementation and success of tobacco control initiatives, and situates smoking trends in China in a broader global context. The authors synthesize Chinese and western research on the smoking epidemic and uniquely focus on the importance of environmental factors and Chinese cultural perspectives in understanding smoking behaviour and the ineffectiveness of many tobacco control initiatives, especially how these conflict with Chinese economic policy. The book is aimedat academic and policy audiences both internationally and inside China, and will be of interest to a wide audience, not only geographers, but also epidemiologists, sociologists and others working in public health.