China Just Raised Tobacco Taxes. Smokers Might Not Notice
The last tax hike on smokers was "a dumpling with no fillings"
A woman walks past a cigarette store in Beijing. The country has about 320 million smokers.
Bernardo De Niz/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
China's 300 million smokers just learned that, as of Sunday, their government will more than double the consumption tax on cigarettes to 11 percent—a move that ordinarily would draw unqualified support from the World Health Organization.
China loses 1 million people each year to smoking-related diseases, and raising the nation's current 5 percent tax rate is seen by health advocates as one of the most effective ways to reduce that grim toll. Last year WHO even adopted the theme "Raise Taxes on Tobacco" at its May 31 World No-Tobacco Day.