From the People's Daily app.

And this is Story in the Story. 

There are growing social concerns in China over smoking among younger generations. 

More than 300 million people in China are smokers, almost one-third of the world's total, according to statistics released by the World Health Organization. Many Chinese smokers also start smoking young. 

The smoking rate among China's adolescents was around 6.9 percent in 2018, according to a report by chinanews.com. 

Even though Chinese parents, schools and media have been strongly advocating the awareness of the health hazards of smoking, some post-95 Chinese youngsters still smoke. 

The recent case of TFBoys Wang Yuan, one of China's most influential boy band members, who was caught smoking at a restaurant in Beijing in May has highlighted the trend. The 18-year-old teenage heartthrob faced punishment for smoking in a public venue, and he apologized publicly after being criticized badly on social media. 

Today's Story in the Story looks at what steps are being taken to try to stem the trend of young Chinese becoming smokers.

A man, who is part of an increasing number of young Chinese smokers, smokes a cigarette outdoors. (Photo: VCG)

Shen Zhihui, a 23-year-old male who resides in Shanghai, has been smoking for over one year. He said that he tried smoking for the first time at the age of 21, because he was in a bad mood. 

"At that time, I was struggling between taking postgraduate entrance exams and seeking a job after graduation. I also worried a lot about my future job and how my life will go on after graduation," Shen said. 

He added no one persuaded him or taught him to smoke. "I started by myself. Actually, some people around me had tried to persuade me not to do it," Shen added. 

Likewise, 20-year-old male undergraduate Yang Tianyu has been smoking for two and a half years. "I started smoking at 17, around three months before the college entrance examination. I was under huge pressure to improve my scores, so I smoked to relieve my stress," said Yang. 

According to a report by Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Public Health in 2019, depression is the main cause of smoking among adolescents in Shanghai. 

The report shows among 10,557 adolescents interviewed; depressed adolescents are 1.56 times more likely to become habitual smokers than those without depression. Also, female adolescents with depression are more likely to smoke than their male counterparts, the report reveals.

Students at a primary school in Yangzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, sign their names on a banner at an anti-smoking event on May 30. (Photo: VCG)

As for Wang's case, young people said they didn't feel surprised or upset seeing the 18-year-old idol smoking, but they added that since he is an influential idol among young people, he has to take more social responsibility and think about the consequences of his behavior in public. 

"Though the idol is young, he is already an adult. Since smoking is not illegal, he has the right to smoke," Yang said. "The reason why he is badly criticized for smoking is that Wang debuted as a positive teen talent, and his smoking behavior overthrew his public image." 

Chinese analysts view Wang's case as a timely warning for the country to pay more attention to the smoking ban, highlighting its influence on curbing smoking among teenagers. It also revealed the difficulties behind enforcing smoking control and raised widespread concerns over why it is so hard to implement the ban in some public places. 

Implemented on June 1, 2015, Beijing's smoking ban stipulates that smoking is forbidden in all indoor public places, including restaurants, office buildings and public transportation. The ban also extends to open-air spaces near school buildings, women's and children's hospitals, sports venues and cultural relic protection sites. 

The adult smoking rate in Beijing dropped from 23.4 percent in 2014 to 22.3 percent, with the number of smokers decreasing by 200,000. 

Wang Benjin, an official from the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, said that 20,991 venues have been required to make rectifications and nearly 10,000 people were fined a total of 506,000 yuan for smoking in public venues. 

Another report published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that in 2018, the rate of smokers aged 15 and above in China was 26.6 percent, showing a downward trend, but there was still a long way to go to achieving the goal of bringing that number down to 20 percent by 2030. 

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Brian Lowe, Lance Crayon and Elaine Yue Lin. Music by: bensound.com. Text from Global Times.)