China is kicking the habit with new rules that ban any new cigarette factories or joint ventures with foreign companies for tobacco production.

China is the world's largest cigarette producer and Chinese are the world's most enthusiastic smokers, with a growing market of about 320 million making it a magnet for multinationals and focus of international health concern.

The rules were announced during a meeting on implementing the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which China signed in 2003 and ratified in 2005. The convention aims to reduce tobacco consumption, including through a ban on advertising and promotion.

In 2005, Chinese consumers bought 1.947 trillion cigarettes, an increase of almost 4 percent, he added.

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