China's tobacco tax rate is still among the world's lowest, and the government should increase it to help curb a smoking epidemic that afflicts more than 300 million people on the mainland, according to the World Health Organization
About half of Chinese smokers spend 5 yuan (80 US cents) or less on a pack of 20 cigarettes, which is "much, much lower than the average cost in developed countries," said Angela Pratt, technical officer of the Tobacco Free Initiative in the WHO office in China.
Pratt made her remarks at a media briefing to prepare for Friday's launch of the Chinese-language translation of the WHO Technical Manual on Tobacco Tax Administration.
According to the manual, which was first published in 2010, total taxes on cigarettes account for about 50 percent of the average retail price for cigarettes at the global level, with the average price of a packet being $2.53. The lower-middle-income countries have both lower tobacco prices and lower rates of tobacco taxation.
The excise tax rate in China is 36 percent or 56 percent for cigarettes with different factory prices, official statistics show.
WHO has recommended that at least 70 percent of the retail price of cigarettes come from excise taxes to effectively reduce tobacco consumption, yet it says the excise tax accounts for only about 25 percent in tobacco's retail price in China, reports ChinaDaily.
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