Push to reduce smoking via tax goes up in smoke

A recent hefty hike in the cigarette consumption tax will do nothing to curb smoking in China - the world's largest tobacco producer and consumer - because the price of a pack of smokes remains the same for consumers, say experts.

The tax authorities and tax financial regulators raised the levy on cigarettes by between 6 and 11 percent on May 1.

But, despite the additional taxes, the price paid by smokers has not changed, noted Yang Gonghuan, director of the Tobacco Control Office under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).