Why FCTC Policies Have Not Been Implemented in China: Domestic Dynamics and Tobacco Governance

Abstract

The international community, under the auspices of the World Health Organization, developed the landmark Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to curb the global tobacco epidemic. As an internationally binding convention about global best practices on tobacco control, the FCTC has become an overriding source of policy transfer for developing countries in the fight against smoking. However, since its ratification of the first global norm over tobacco governance and against the grim background of the widespread tobacco-induced public health devastation within its borders, China has failed to genuinely pursue FCTC policies because of domestic political and social factors. The empirical findings of this article point to the dominance of political-social dynamics for China's nontransfer of FCTC policies, arguing that the government's GDPism, its sovereignty-first mentality, and hostility to NGOs as well as widespread social acceptability of tobacco consumption and high smoking prevalence are fundamental causes of China's nontransfer of FCTC policies. The article explicates how these variables correspond to FCTC policies in an analytic framework of policy transfer.

The impact of regional economic reliance on the tobacco industry on current smoking in China

“…Thus the official view is one that stresses normalisation, not denormalisation, in its attitude to the tobacco industry. Consequently, although China is a party to the FCTC, the government's implementation and enforcement of tobacco control policies has been limited (Jin, 2014;Samet, 2014) and the ratio of government expenditure on tobacco control to annual tax revenue is one of the lowest globally (Lam and He, 2014). To a large extent this reflects the weakness of anti-tobacco policy networks, which remain marginalised.…”

“…For example, Cheng (2014) cites the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control which indicated that 52 tobacco companies donated to, or sponsored, 79 welfare activities in 40 cities and counties during the last quarter of 2009, including those, such as the Hope Project, designed to help poor children attend school (Jin, 2014), These philanthropic projects are similar to those pursued by any other tobacco company and are important in promoting a positive public image of corporate social responsibility and maintaining public support for the CNTC Yang et al, 2010).…”

“…Unlike many western governments, the STMA/CNTC has continued to stress the social acceptability of smoking in a variety of ways: by promoting it as an economic pillar of the country, by framing tobacco control as a threat to social stability, and by maintaining that the tobacco industry is a legitimate actor in tobacco control policy making (Jin, 2014). Consequently, unlike its western counterparts the tobacco industry enjoys a certain amount of respectability in China and one that is encouraged by both central and provincial governments, despite the former being a signatory to the FCTC .…”

“…First, they maintain liaison offices in Beijing to advance their interests and such lobbying groups (zhujingban) have rapidly increased in number (Li, 2012). Second, especially since the abolition of rural agricultural taxes in 2005, provincial governments have encouraged farmers to plant tobacco crops given that the remaining tobacco leaves tax became their only source of revenue from agriculture (Jin, 2014). Although the STMA sets procurement prices of tobacco leaves and the allocation of tobacco production quotas, the stimulation of production by tobacco tax-dependent local governments has meant that the use of price to control production volume has not always proved effective (Hu, 2008).…”

“…In some cases provincial governments have ordered their public sector workers to smoke local brands in order to boost the local economy (Li, 2012). Jin (2014) reports examples in Hubei Province where various counties within the province issued edicts for quotas of cigarettes to be consumed at official banquets and by teachers at local schools during the global financial crisis in 2009. These edicts also reflect the culture of cigarette gifting in China where the consumption of tobacco products is an important component of social interactions (Rich and Xiao, 2012).…”