China plans to ban smoking electronic cigarettes in public places to stop the increase in the use of cigarettes among teenagers.
A week after banning the sale of e-cigarettes on the Internet, eight government agencies, including the National Health Commission, issued a memorandum on an action plan to tackle smoking and the use of e-cigarettes among teenagers, Bloomberg News reported.
Although the document included a demand for legislation to counter e-cigarette smoking and revise laws, it did not explain when and how it would enforce the ban.
China has banned the sale of e-cigarettes via the Internet.
"There is currently no clear evidence that e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking," the document said. "The authorities should not allow the marketing of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool."
There are countries that have banned e-cigarettes completely, including India, Australia and Singapore. Conversely, countries such as the UK consider e-cigarettes an alternative to smoking, which causes health problems.
The latest steps by China represent the latest restrictions on the sector, whose profits have risen in the past few months, after a mysterious chest disease linked to e-cigarettes was detected that infected 1,888 people and killed 37 others.