China is offering  its male doctors, more than half (56.8 per cent ) of whom smoke, an urgent and much needed medical advice - quit the habit and set an example to the hundreds of millions of other smokers. "It is the highest rate in the world," one newspaper said, citing the China Preventive Medicine Association (CPMA),  about  Chinese smokers. .

China is the world's largest cigarette producer and  the home of  the world's most enthusiastic smokers,  a growing market of about 320 million,  making it  very attractive to multinational cigarette companies and the  focus of international health concerns.

Chinese cigarettes are also among the cheapest in the world, with a packet costing as little as a few cents. "Medical workers and those who take the decisions regarding people's health should take the lead to quit smoking and completely ban indoor smoking to set a good example for their patients and others who look up to them," Health Minister Chen Zhu was quoted by the China Daily as saying.

One million out of the  350-million smokers in China die each year, which is why 10 leading health associations and 10 universities have joined the CPMA's campaign that encourages health workers to kick the habit  and  for  medical schools, hospitals and associations to be  'completely smoke-free' by year-end.  As well, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital 's anti-tobacco bonus awarded to employees who do not smoke, is proving very successful.

"International experience has it that when doctors give up smoking, it encourages a lot of others to kick the habit," Mr Chen was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the  Chinese e-cigs or electronic cigarette is gaining ground  in spite of  safety concerns.  One example is the  Ruyan V8, which, with its slim white body and glowing amber tip,  can easily pass as a regular cigarette. It even emits what look like curlicues of white smoke.

The Ruyan V8, which produces a nicotine-infused mist absorbed directly into the lungs, is just one of a rapidly growing array of electronic cigarettes attracting attention in China, the U.S. and elsewhere — and the scrutiny of world health officials.

Ruyan  (means "like smoking") introduced the world's first electronic cigarette in 2004 based on its  patented ultrasonic atomizing technology, in which nicotine is dissolved in a cartridge containing propylene glycol, the liquid that is vaporized in smoke machines in nightclubs or theaters and is commonly used as a solvent in food.

Ruyan’s manufacturers claim the safety of the  e-cig  based on the fact  that  because no burning is involved, there's no hazardous cocktail of cancer-causing chemicals and gases like those emitted  by a regular cigarette.

However, health authorities like World Health Organization, are questioning those claims for lack of  evidence to back up the makers’ contentions that e-cigarettes are a safe substitute for smoking or a way to help smokers quit.

Unlike other nicotine-replacement therapies such as  skin patches  and some inhalers and nasal sprays, e-cigarettes have not gone through rigorous testing,  Timothy O'Leary, a communications officer at the WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative in Geneva, said this week.