--- title: China: Smoking to Kill 1 in 3 Young Men, Study Says description: Cigarette smoking has increased sharply among young Chinese men in recent decades canonical: https://time.com/4068445/china-smoking-study-deaths/ author: Denver Nicks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-09T17:46:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T11:40:52.426Z article:section: Health og:title: Smoking Will Kill 1 in 3 Young Men in China, Study Says og:description: Tobacco-related deaths in China are set to double to 2 million by 2030 og:url: https://time.com/4068445/china-smoking-study-deaths/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Smoking Will Kill 1 in 3 Young Men in China, Study Says twitter:description: Tobacco-related deaths in China are set to double to 2 million by 2030 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Smoking Will Kill 1 in 3 Young Men in China, Study Says > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Oct 9, 2015 5:46 PM UTC  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Oct 9, 2015 5:46 PM UTC At current smoking rates a third of all young men in China will die from tobacco-related causes, [according](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/09/us-health-smoking-china-idUSKCN0S235N20151009) to a study published in The Lanced medical journal Friday. The study found that two-thirds of young men in China start smoking, most before they are 20 years old, and half of them will eventually die as a result. Tobacco-related deaths in China are set to double to two million by 2030, according to the study. “Without rapid, committed, and widespread action to reduce smoking levels, China will face enormous numbers of premature deaths,” said Liming Li, a professor at the Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, reports Reuters. The Chinese government has been making efforts to curb [smoking](http://time.com/3903759/china-smoking-rules-beijing/) in some urban areas, including movement toward [banning](http://time.com/3605163/china-smoking-ban/) smoking in public places. Tobacco use in China has increased markedly in recent decades, even as smoking rates for women have fallen sharply. \[[Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/09/us-health-smoking-china-idUSKCN0S235N20151009)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4068445/china-smoking-study-deaths/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4068445/china-smoking-study-deaths/"},"headline":"Smoking Will Kill 1 in 3 Young Men in China, Study Says","datePublished":"2015-10-09T17:46:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:40:52.426Z","description":"Tobacco-related deaths in China are set to double to 2 million by 2030","url":"https://time.com/4068445/china-smoking-study-deaths/","keywords":["Smoking","Cigarettes","China","Beijing","health","lung cancer"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/smoking/","name":"Smoking"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4068445/china-smoking-study-deaths/","name":"Smoking Will Kill 1 in 3 Young Men in China, Study Says"}}]}] ```