w88 casino News Network (provided by the w88 casino of International Economics and w88)On June 26-28, 2019, the International Training Seminar on Tobacco Tax and Tobacco Economics, co-sponsored by the World Health Organization and the w88 casino, was held in w88 casino. At the opening ceremony and "Gathering in China" seminar held on the morning of June 26, Vice President Wang Qiang of the w88 casino, Director Mao Qun'an of the Planning Department of the National Health Commission, Dr. Gao Li, World Health Organization Representative in China, Hong Junjie, Dean of the w88 casino of International Economics and w88 of the w88 casino, Jia Kang, Chief Economist of the China Institute of New Supply Economics, Xiao Lin, Researcher of the National Tobacco Control Office of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Liao Wenke, Vice President of the China Tobacco Control Association, attended the event. Professor Zheng Rong, Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Tobacco Control and Economic Policy, hosted the event.
In his speech, Professor Wang Qiang, Vice President of the w88 casino, welcomed the Chinese and foreign guests attending the meeting and congratulated experts and scholars on their tobacco control achievements in recent years. He pointed out that China has 350 million smokers and is the world's largest tobacco producer and consumer. In 2015, China increased the excise tax on cigarettes. This was a positive response by the Chinese government to the World Health Organization’s advocacy of using taxation to control tobacco use. It was also a useful attempt by the Chinese government to apply tax policy in the field of public health. He said that w88 casino has always supported and encouraged international exchanges and cooperation, and "internationalization" is one of the most distinctive features of the w88 casino. The World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Tobacco Control and Economic Policy is another important base and platform for w88 casino in international exchanges and cooperation. Since its establishment, the WHO Collaborating Center of w88 casino, under the coordination of the World Health Organization and the World Bank, has cooperated with the financial and health departments of China and many countries in the field of tobacco tax and tobacco control. We have carried out a series of research and cooperation, and provided some countries with assessment and policy advisory services on tobacco tax policy adjustments under the “One Belt, One Road” global public health framework. These international cooperation projects have strengthened regional and international research cooperation and exchanges in the field of public health economics, especially research and policy promotion on tobacco taxes and health taxes. He hoped that all participating guests would use the platform of this training seminar to continue to have in-depth discussions on health tax policies, including tobacco taxes, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the field of health taxation among countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and jointly contribute to promoting regional economic prosperity and improving people's healthy quality of life.
Dr. Gao Li, the representative of the World Health Organization in China, reviewed his work experience in the field of tobacco control in his keynote speech, pointing out that global tobacco control has achieved remarkable results with the joint efforts of governments, academic institutions and social organizations. Taxation, price measures, media propaganda and government regulation and other policy measures have significant effects in reducing tobacco use. Among them, taxation and price measures have been empirically proven to be the single most effective measures in the practice of various countries. In recent years, China's tax and price increase measures have achieved positive policy effects, but at the same time, China's tobacco control work still faces severe challenges. The research and application of tobacco tax policies must be further strengthened in order to achieve the long-term national health and tobacco control planning goals set by the Chinese government.
Professor Hong Junjie, Dean of the w88 casino of International Economics and w88 at the w88 casino, introduced the current status and prospects of economic and w88 development under the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. He pointed out that the "One Belt and One Road" is a comprehensive construction that includes policy communication, facility connectivity, unimpeded w88, financial integration and people-to-people connectivity. It is an international economic cooperation initiative to promote high-quality development and an important public product provided by the Chinese government to the world. At present, the participation of “One Belt and One Road” countries in global w88 is steadily increasing, and intra-country w88 links are becoming increasingly close. w88 in intermediate goods has become the main form of regional w88 under “One Belt and One Road”. Electrical machinery, equipment and energy commodities have become the main trading products of “One Belt and One Road”. In recent years, some funds have also flowed to the tobacco industry. At present, the "Belt and Road" countries have become the most important destinations for foreign investment inflows in the world, and both FDI and ODI in related countries are rising rapidly. It can be expected that countries and regions along the “Belt and Road” will continue to become new highlights in global economic and w88 growth, with promising future growth, and “green investment” is an important concept that should be adhered to during the construction of the “Belt and Road”.
Director Mao Qun'an of the Planning Department of the National Health Commission introduced the plans and initiatives of government departments in recent years in terms of national health and tobacco control. He pointed out that the Chinese government has always put people's health first, and President Xi Jinping has clearly requested that people's health be placed in a strategic position of priority development. Since the Convention came into force in my country in 2006, the Chinese government has actively taken a series of measures to control the tobacco epidemic and established the "Inter-ministerial Coordination Leading Group for the Implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control", which provides an inter-departmental coordination mechanism for the comprehensive implementation of comprehensive tobacco control. In 2018, the party and government institutional reform made it clear that the National Health Commission will take the lead in tobacco control and implementation responsibilities. This is a major strategic arrangement to promote the construction of a healthy China and safeguard the health of the people. He believes that tobacco control efforts should be strengthened from six aspects: strengthening the coordinating function of the leading group for tobacco control and implementation, actively promoting tobacco control legislation and law enforcement supervision, continuing to build a smoke-free environment, conducting extensive publicity and education on tobacco control, establishing a tobacco epidemic monitoring system, and improving my country's smoking cessation service network. At the same time, we should gradually improve tobacco taxation and price measures, deeply integrate tobacco control work into the construction of a healthy China, strengthen international exchanges and cooperation, and actively advocate the participation of the whole society in tobacco control, so as to jointly promote China's tobacco control and compliance process.
Sun Jiani, technical officer of the World Health Organization’s China Representative Office, chaired the “Focus on China” policy discussion session. In this session, researcher Xiao Lin from the Tobacco Control Office of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported the main findings of the 2018 China Adult Tobacco Survey. She pointed out that the smoking rate among people aged 15 and above in my country is 26.6%, of which 50.5% are men, 2.1% women, 28.9% in rural areas and 25.1% in cities. Compared with previous survey results, the smoking rate among people aged 15 and above shows a downward trend, but there is still a large gap between achieving the goals in the "Healthy China 2030" planning outline. Exposure to second-hand smoke has improved overall, the proportion of the public supporting indoor public places, workplaces and public transportation becoming smoke-free environments has further increased, and awareness of the dangers of smoking has also increased. But on the other hand, the public's awareness of the dangers of low-tar cigarettes has declined, smokers' willingness to quit smoking has not increased, the public's ability to pay for cigarettes has increased, and the proportion of people who have heard of and use e-cigarettes has also increased.
Mark Goodchild, an expert on tobacco economics from the World Health Organization, gave a report on the theme of "Tobacco Taxes and Healthy China". He pointed out that tobacco use has brought a heavy burden to China's economy. About 1 million people die from smoking in China every year, and health expenditures caused by tobacco account for 25% of the world's low- and middle-income countries. Tobacco use increases the poverty rate in China's rural areas by 15% and in urban areas by 0.7%. Every year, about 12 million people will fall into poverty due to medical expenses caused by smoking. After China increased cigarette excise taxes and sales prices in 2015, cigarette sales fell by about 8% between 2014 and 2016, the first decline since 2001, with the most significant reductions in tobacco use among people with lower socioeconomic status. He believes that in order to achieve the goals of the "Healthy China 2030" plan, it is necessary to further increase tobacco consumption taxes, fully implement national smoke-free legislation, and improve non-price tobacco control measures such as smoking cessation services, health warnings, media publicity, and advertising control.
Professor Zheng Rong, Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Tobacco Control and Economic Policy, analyzed the impact of China's tobacco tax policy adjustments in 2015 on fiscal revenue and the tobacco industry. She pointed out that even in the world's largest tobacco producing and consuming countries, tobacco tax and price measures have still proven to be a "win-win" strategy. China's tobacco tax increase in 2015 not only continued to increase government tobacco tax revenue, but also immediately reduced cigarette consumption. Our country must make continuous, substantial and regular adjustments to tobacco taxes in order to maintain the continued decline in tobacco affordability. At the same time, the tobacco consumption tax structure should also be improved and a single tax rate should be implemented for all tobacco products to avoid consumption substitution and downward transfer after tax and price increases. In the form of tax rates, specific taxes rather than ad valorem taxes should be mainly used to set an effective minimum price for cigarettes to prevent young people from starting to smoke.
Jia Kang, chief economist of the China Institute of New Supply-side Economics, pointed out that the 2015 cigarette tax and price increase policy has indeed had a positive effect in controlling tobacco use, but in order to achieve the "Healthy China 2030" planning goals, it is necessary to continue to increase the tobacco tax burden. At the same time, the tobacco monopoly system implemented in our country has inhibited the effective transmission of tax policies to a certain extent. Mr. Jeremias Paul, head of the World Health Organization's Tobacco Economic Working Group and former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Finance of the Philippines, shared the Philippines' tobacco control experience. He believed that promoting tobacco control smoothly requires strong support from senior government leaders. Government departments should not only focus on the tax revenue provided by the tobacco industry, but should be aware of the long-term economic effects and social value that tobacco control can bring. At the same time, tobacco control requires the cooperation of different government departments and social organizations and the combination of various forces to achieve the expected policy goals. Xiao Lin, a researcher at the Tobacco Control Office of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, introduced the progress of China's tobacco control work. She pointed out that attention should be paid to the prevalence of tobacco use among adolescents. In recent years, emerging consumer trends such as Internet advertising and e-cigarettes have posed new challenges to China's tobacco control work. China should increase its efforts in policy publicity and supervision of emerging tobacco products. She also called on the economic community to pay more attention to the public health significance of economic means such as tobacco taxes, and regard the improvement of national health as an important policy evaluation indicator.
Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the world. The medical burden of diseases caused by smoking and the decrease in productivity caused by smoking have brought huge economic losses to various countries. In order to promote global public health and health and reduce the harm of tobacco to human health and obstacles to the development of human society, the World Health Organization actively advocates member states to implement comprehensive tobacco control measures. The Asia-Pacific region has the largest number of smokers and the highest tobacco prevalence in the world, and is a major marketing target for multinational tobacco companies. The success or failure of global tobacco control depends on the Asia-Pacific region, where the use of price and tax measures to curb the tobacco epidemic faces an urgent and severe situation. From June 26 to 28, the World Health Organization conducted technical training on tobacco tax policy simulation and policy evaluation for officials from the finance and taxation departments of China and neighboring countries Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Nepal, and conducted in-depth discussions on the following eight themes: "Focus on China," "Health Tax and Global Development Process," "The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Sustainable Development Goals," and "Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control." “Gathering global pioneers and best practices in tobacco taxation”, “The importance of affordability of tobacco products”, “Targeting excise taxes on emerging and harmful products”, and “Challenges faced by countries”. This international training seminar is the first time that the WHO Collaborating Center on Tobacco Control and Economic Policy of w88 casino has undertaken a training project commissioned by the World Health Organization. Through this training seminar, the finance and tax department officials of the participating countries have further clarified that under the leadership of the World Health Organization, they will strengthen cooperation and exchanges, improve tobacco tax policy simulation and evaluation capabilities, strengthen tobacco tax research and policy advocacy capacity building, implement effective tobacco tax policies and tax structures, and curb the tobacco epidemic trend in the region.
