Beijing Residents Can Report Illegal Smoking in Real Time via WeChat

From now on, Beijing residents can report illegal smoking through the WeChat official account “Smoke-Free Beijing.” After a complaint is received, the platform will handle it promptly, and the reported location will immediately appear with a blue warning light on websites such as “Window of the Capital,” “Beijing Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission,” and “Beijing Tobacco Control Association,” forming a distribution map of smoking-control complaints (referred to as the “Tobacco Control Map”). Locations reported fewer than 3 times will show a blue warning light, those reported 3–5 times will show an orange warning light, and those reported more than 5 times will show a red warning light. For venues that refuse to comply with advice or fail to make proper corrections, the municipal health inspection authority will step in to handle the case.

Zhang Jianshu, president of the Beijing Tobacco Control Association, said that under conditions where health supervision law-enforcement personnel are stretched thin and burdened with heavy tasks, the “Tobacco Control Map” has created a handling process in which tobacco-control volunteers first provide persuasion, education, notification, and investigation in response to complaints and reports. Cases involving refusal to comply or poor rectification are then referred to the health inspection authority. In this way, tobacco-control volunteers and supervisory personnel complement and support each other. The “Tobacco Control Map” also makes targeted law enforcement more convenient and reduces costs.

Source: People’s Daily