Ma Wei brought out a pack of "555" brand cigarettes and a lighter out of his Adidas shorts and lit up.

"The percentage of smokers in my school is rather high. More than 27 percent smoke," said Ma, an 18-year-old half-pack-a-day smoker who will apply to college next year.

Overall, 7 percent of kids and teenagers aged 6 to 18 smoke: 10.2 percent among boys and 1.8 percent among girls.

That was the finding of a survey of Beijing's school students who smoke by the Chinese Association of Tobacco Control, which was released on Thursday.

The association tracked 1,000 children through primary and middle schools in 20 communities in the capital.

None of the findings surprised Ma, who said he's been smoking for nine years. He blamed boredom and heavy pressure of studying for his habit.

He knows puffing cigarette smoke is an annoying habit. He recalled he started by simply mimicking adults.

"One day an older friend gave me a cigarette," he said. "I was curious and tried it. Since then, I've rarely stopped smoking."

But he's tried.

"I tried to give it up during a summer vacation," Ma said. "But I smoked again as soon as I went back to school, where my friends all smoke.

"Everyone smokes, including my mum and dad. How can you expect me to quit?"

And it's not just children who are getting hooked.

Xu Guihua, the association's vice president, said there's also a noticeable rise in the number of women who smoke despite a slight down-turn among adults overall.

China, home to one-fourth of the world's smokers, is the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco.

The survey estimated the country has 320 million smokers, about 36 percent of the population.

Still, it's the health of children that is affected the most, experts say. Research shows hypertension, heart disease and diabetes, which often trouble adults, are now turning up more often in young people, said Hu Yamei, a medical consultant with the association.

"The earlier children start to smoke, the likelier they are to remain addicted and the greater their risk of getting tobacco-related diseases," Hu said.

Young people's vulnerability to tobacco is made worse by the lack of a law against selling cigarettes to them.

"China should have a clearer definition on underage smoking," said Roy Wadia, media officer for the World Health Organization (WHO) office in Beijing.

Under Chinese law, it is illegal to sell cigarettes to young people, but there is no law penalizing those who do.

On Thursday, the association launched a commission in Beijing to help young people stop smoking.

The commission will try to build up a tobacco control alliance, train volunteers, promote non-smoking on campus and facilitate a "Say No to the First Cigarette" campaign.

More generally, the government has been working on a nationwide smoking prevention and intervention program, and the country is approaching the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

China signed the treaty, which involves about 80 countries, in 2003 but has not yet ratified it. The National People's Congress (NPC) is expected to approve China's participation by the end of the year.

If the NPC does, it will lead to clearer health warnings on cigarettes package and bans of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

WHO figures show tobacco kills almost 5 million people worldwide each year. If current trends continue, it is projected to kill 10 million people a year by 2020, with 70 percent of the deaths occurring in developing countries.

(China Daily August 20, 2005)