A draft on regulations of smoking in public places in Fuzhou city was reviewed by the Standing Committee of the municipal People’s Congress on Aug 28, Fuzhou daily reported.

The draft proposes that Fuzhou should categorize public places into non-smoking zones and smoking-restricted zones.

The smoking-restricted category will mark out a confined area for smokers, who are prohibited to light up outside it.

Places offering public services involving dining, entertaining and bathing; tourist resorts, parks and waiting halls for public transportation are subject to smoking restrictions.

Non-smoking public places include medical and health institutions, kindergartens, schools, theaters, libraries, exhibition venues, archives, museums, supermarkets, shopping malls, financial institutions, and public transportation.

Offices, meeting rooms, lobbies and auditoriums of public institutions; gyms, sports venues and Internet cafés are also subject to the smoking ban, said the draft.

Violators of smoking in these restricted or banned public places will be fined from 20 to 1,000 yuan, depending on the severity, according to the draft.

But congressmen were at odds over the extent of fines, as some thought it is not intimidating enough, whereas some insisted it is too harsh to be enforced, said the newspaper, citing a source inside the congress.