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China is considering raising tobacco taxes and cigarette prices to reduce the number of smokers in the country.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission said at a press conference that the commission will work together with other agencies to push hard for a tax boost as a way to protect public health.

The commission says that China is now on the course of fiscal and tax reform, which provides a rare chance to take advantage to raise tobacco taxes and prices for tobacco control.

China raised tobacco taxes in 2009. But a report published by the World Health Organization in May said China's tax increase has had no impact on tobacco consumption because higher taxes were not passed on to the retail price of cigarettes.

Tobacco in China is very cheap, and has become much more affordable over time as average incomes have increased with China's rapid economic growth and development.

As the world's largest tobacco maker and consumer, China has more than 300 million smokers, and another 740 million people are exposed to second-hand smoke each year. Almost 1.4 million Chinese people die from smoking-related diseases annually.

China will ban all forms of advertising, sponsorship and promotion of tobacco products.

Late last year, the central government asked government officials to take the lead and stop smoking in public places.

affordable adj. 负担得起的 一个相关的新闻稿件高频短语是affordable housing（经济适用房），建议熟记。

economic growth and development n. 经济增长及发展 这又是一个新闻稿件里的高频短语，建议熟记。

tobacco maker and consumer n. 烟草生产商和消费者

be exposed to… 接触到，遭受，暴露于… 后面多跟负面的东西，不过不绝对。

例句：

Get prepared. You will be exposed to pornography in that environment, whether you like it or not. （做好准备。不论你愿不愿意，在那个环境里你肯定会接触到色情内容。）

Hopefully these kids can be exposed to some healthy ideas at school. （希望孩子们在学校里能接触到一些健康的观点。）

second-hand smoke n. 二手烟 与second-hand smoking略有区别。second-hand smoke强调的是由吸烟者吐出的二手烟；而second-hand smoking强调的是不吸烟者被迫吸二手烟的行为。

all forms of advertising, sponsorship and promotion 所有形式的广告、赞助及宣传

take the lead v. 该短语主要有两层意思：一，领先、占主要地位；二，带头，起表率作用。

例句：

Europe is taking the lead in car production. （欧洲在汽车生产环节局首位。）

With our producer gone, we really need someone to step up to the plate and take the lead. （制作人不在，我们非常需要有人能及时顶上，起表率作用。）