A Chinese laborer smokes as he takes a break in Gucheng Village, Tongzhou District, Beijing, on Oct. 15, 2015. (Photo : Getty Images)
Around 300 million Chinese are smoking slim and super-slim cigarettes in the mistaken belief that they will be exposed to less harmful chemicals than traditional brands.
The world's largest tobacco consumer and producer, China saw domestic production and sales of slim cigarettes double by the end of 2014, according to a report from the state-owned Xinhua News Agency on Monday. A total of 15 billion slim cigarettes were sold that year, a sharp increase from 500 million in 2007.
Smokers are under the impression that slim cigarettes are "healthier," the report said.
"It's the lesser of two evils," said Zhang Qingyu, a middle-aged chain smoker who started smoking slim cigarettes three years ago. "My family supports me on the switch because, you know, smoking kills and with such a 'healthier' alternative, I may live longer."
Slim cigarettes are also gaining popularity among young Chinese and fashion-conscious white-collar workers, a large proportion of which are comprised of women.
But according to China's vocal anti-smoking lobby, the belief that slim cigarettes are "less harmful" is a dangerous myth.
Wu Yiqun, executive director of ThinkTank, a Beijing-based NGO specializing in tobacco regulation, said that the hazards of slim cigarettes are greatly underplayed in China.
"There has been no evidence that a smoker is exposed to less chemicals and poisons after switching to slim cigarettes," Wu said. "Smokers feel slim cigarettes are less 'fulfilling' so they use other tobacco products, smoke more of them or simply take more drags."
Xu Guihua, deputy head of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, said that the local tobacco industry is misleading consumers with its promotion of slim cigarettes.
"There is no such thing as 'safe' cigarettes no matter how slim they are," Xu said, adding that slim cigarettes are being marketed to dupe and extract more profits.
According to Ling Chengxing, head of China's State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and China National Tobacco Corporation, slim cigarettes are "in line with the trend of consumption and tobacco product innovation" and are of "lower costs and cause less harm" compared with regular cigarettes.
China's tobacco industry generated nearly 956 billion yuan in taxes and profits in 2013, while over one million Chinese die in the country from tobacco-related illness annually--around 3,000 people every day--accounting for $150,000 of profit per death.
