RESTAURANTS, bars and Internet cafes in Beijing have been exempted from a proposed smoking ban at public facilities in response to concerns expressed by business owners.

These places will only be told to separate smoking and non-smoking areas from May 1 as part of the new regulation, the China Daily reported yesterday.

The paper quoted Zhang Peili, an official with the municipal government's legislative affairs office, as saying that the changes had been approved last week.

Lawmakers and health experts said the difficulty in imposing the smoking ban underlined the grave challenges faced in a country with the largest number of smokers.

Beijing had originally wanted restaurants to keep 70 percent of their areas smoke-free, but the plan was dropped amid restaurant owners' worries about potential business declining, Zhang was quoted as saying.

It was reported March 29 that a strict smoking ban from May 1 would cover bars, restaurants and Internet cafes.

But the amended rule means only government offices, schools, museums, hospitals and sports venues will be designated smoke-free areas.

Despite the setback, health experts said Beijing had made a breakthrough in tobacco control.

"I think it is the right approach to go step by step. It is a brave move to ban smoking in government offices," said Jiang Yuan, deputy director of the national tobacco control office.

Major cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Qingdao are also mulling amendments to laws on public smoking as part of a nationwide campaign in the run-up to the Olympics.

Health experts in Beijing said they hoped the city would be used as a springboard for drafting a national tobacco control law.

Beijing banned smoking in taxis last October.

The Chinese are among the world's most enthusiastic smokers, with a growing market of 350 million. Ministry of Health say smoking causes 1 million deaths a year in China.

(Xinhua)