China to raise wholesale tax rate for cigarettes to 11 percent

An employee with a cigarette at hand exhales smoke outside a cafe in Beijing, November 25, 2014.
Reuters/Jason Lee


<span id="articleText"> <span id="midArticle_start"/> China is set to raise the wholesale tax rate for cigarettes to 11 percent from 5 percent, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday, in a move to deter smokers in the world's biggest maker and consumer of tobacco .

<span id="midArticle_0"/>China has adopted greater restrictions on tobacco advertising as well as restrictions on smoking in government workplaces, hospitals and other public places. Critics say the curbs are enforced unevenly. Domestic and foreign anti-smoking activists say China is paying a heavy cost in terms of public health as a result of the tobacco industry.

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<span id="midArticle_2"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/> (Reporting By Megha Rajagopalan and Koh Gui Qing; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

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