中国提高烟草消费税

 　　Besides an increase of the wholesale¹ tax rate, cigarette retailers³ will also have to pay an additional 0.005 yuan for each cigarette they sell.

　　This is estimated to make retail² price of cigarettes in 2015 increase by over 10 percent from that of last year.

　　According to the World Health Organization, if tobacco prices go up by 10 percent, about 3.7% of adult smokers⁵ would quit smoking.

　　But that figure could be as high as 9.3% for a teenage smoker⁴.

　　Deputy director of the Research Institute for Economics, State Tobacco Monopoly Administration Li Baojiang hails the move.

　　中国提高烟草消费税

　　"The raise in the wholesale tax will be felt by consumers as it will be passed on to retail prices. So the number of cigarettes consumed by smokers will be reduced. And the number of smokers will be reduced. Therefore, it'll exert a positive impact by curbing⁷ smoking."

　　Zheng Rong, a professor at China's University of International Business and Economics, agrees.

　　She also points out that it is a common practice for other countries to curb⁶ smoking by raising taxes on cigarettes.

　　"Studies are indicating that many countries are frequently levying⁸ taxes on cigarettes, thus increasing the retail prices. For example, the retail price in Thailand has been frequently raised on an average of six months in the past five to six years. So it has a good and effective record of curbing smoking."

　　The professor adds that the move can also help to increase government revenues, which can in turns be used to increase health services.

　　"China is carrying out universal health care coverage⁹ and the expenditure¹⁰ in health care is increasing. The government needs to take measures to curb cigarette consumption and reduce the losses caused by it. So it is necessary to curb smoking by raising taxes in terms of government income and expenditure."

　　Data from WHO shows that if a country increases its tax on each pack of cigarettes by some 50-percent, government revenues will increase by some 100 billion US dollars.

　　This is the fourth adjustment in China's cigarette wholesale tax since it was set in 1994.

　　With the raise taking effect on Sunday, taxes will make up around 56-percent of cigarette retail prices, still lower than a world average of 65 to-75 percent.

　　Experts suggest this means that there is still room to further increase cigarette prices and taxes.

　　For CRI, I'm Sophie Williams.

1 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

2 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

3 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

4 smoker   

n.吸烟者，吸烟车厢，吸烟室

参考例句：

• His wife dislikes him to be a smoker.他妻子不喜欢他当烟民。
• He is a moderate smoker.他是一个有节制的烟民。

5 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

6 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

7 curbing   

n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
• A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。

8 levying   

征（兵）( levy的现在分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税

参考例句：

• The high tax will be given levying to the foreign country car. 对外国汽车要予以征收高税。
• Levying estate income tax are considered to be goods tax. 遗产税是在财产所有者死亡后所征收的税。

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 expenditure   

n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗

参考例句：

• The entry of all expenditure is necessary.有必要把一切开支入账。
• The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether.我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。