China's State Tobacco Monopoly Administration has dissented against it's own government's new law banning public smoking and greatly restricting tobacco advertising.

In an interview with China's Communist Party-controlled newspaper Study Times, Ling Chengxing, director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration cautioned against "absolutist" or "expansionist" controls on tobacco.

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"We must note that smoking has hundreds of years of history and objectively a market demand for cigarettes still exists," Ling said. "Tobacco control is long term, complex and arduous work, and one-sided, absolutist and expansionist tendencies should be carefully avoided," Ling said.

China has more than 300 million smokers and is one of the world's largest producers and consumers of tobacco products.

China passed sweeping new anti-tobacco laws last week that bans smoking in all indoor public places, workplaces and public transportation, and prohibits tobacco advertising. The law will come into effect June 1, 2015.

Under the new law, smoking will also be prohibited in open-air space areas in kindergartens, schools, child welfare institutions, women and children's hospitals, fitness and sports venues, and cultural relic protection sites that are open to the public.

In addition to the ban on smoking in public places, cigarette and other tobacco advertisements will be prohibited from appearing outdoors, in public places and transport, as well as in media including radio, TV, films, newspapers, books, and internet. All forms of tobacco promotions and title sponsorship are banned.

Teachers will no longer be allowed to smoke in front of students in primary and secondary schools, which are required to help students quit smoking and educate them about the dangers of  smoking. The sale of cigarettes to minors through vending machines and the Internet has also been outlawed.

Those who break the new anti-smoking laws will be fined up to 200 yuan ($32.50). 

TagsChina Tobacco Monopoly Fights Anti-Smoking Laws, Ling Chengxing, tobacco industry, cigarette industry, smoking