The Legislative Council on Thursday passed a bill to tighten controls on smoking and further reduce the number of smokers in the city.

The Tobacco Control Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2025 bans the possession of alternative smoking products such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, and extends statutory non-smoking areas to cover more public places.

The bill also makes it illegal to provide smoking products to anyone under the age of 18.

In addition, the sale of cigarettes with flavours other than menthol will no longer be allowed.

The bill passed with 74 votes in favour, one vote against and seven abstentions.

The council also rejected amendments proposed by two lawmakers who sought to delay and partially lift the tobacco-control measures.

Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau said the measures are aimed at protecting public health and driving down smoking rates over the long term. He stressed that tighter controls should not be delayed any further.

“I was a frontline doctor, and I have witnessed too many tragedies that could have been avoided. Tobacco has caused great harm to smokers and their families, and many smokers later regretted not giving up the habit,” he said.

“Tobacco control is like rowing against the current – if we don’t move forward, we fall back. It requires the whole of society to work together, consistently and across generations. Today, we have taken an important step forward and reached a new milestone in tobacco control.”

During the second reading of the bill, most lawmakers expressed support, with Adrian Ho saying he did not believe the measures would hurt tourism.

“Singapore and South Korea have stricter tobacco control than Hong Kong, but it hasn’t affected their tourism. On the contrary, these measures give people the impression that our city is clean, with fresh air, and that gives tourists a better experience,” he said.

Chu Kwok-keung, who represents the education sector, stressed his concern about young people’s health.

“In recent years, new fruit-flavoured smoking products keep coming out. E-cigarettes with different flavours and packaging are deliberately designed to mislead young people into believing these products are not addictive,” he said.

Hong Kong’s current smoking rate stands at 9.1 percent, which means there are about 580,000 smokers in the city.