Shanghai Expo refuses 200 mln yuan from tobacco group

Photo:People's Daily

The Chinese Pavilion of the Shanghai Expo has refused a 200 million yuan donation from the Shanghai Tobacco (Group) Corporation (STC) in China's effort to ban tobacco advertising.

In a July 20 report from Caijing, the organisers of the Shanghai Expo explained that as China signed the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2003 to ban all types of tobacco advertising and promotion by 2011, they decided not to accept the donation from STC to achieve the "Green Olympics "goal.

The decision sparked a heated discussion on websites. People who supported the donation said tobacco industries were entitled to contribute to the Shanghai Expo, and a 200 million yuan donation contributed enormously to the expo which has injected 1.5 billion yuan in the city, while others thought this breached China's commitment in the convention against the promotion of tobacco.

Some experts even called for a complete tobacco ban not only advertising, promotion and donation, but also in public areas and workplaces.

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