Jean King, Director of Tobacco Control at Cancer Research UK, said: "Tobacco kills over a million people a year in China, so it is greatly encouraging that the Chinese government has ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The world's largest tobacco consumer, China, has ratified an international treaty aimed at curbing tobacco-related deaths, state media has reported.
The country's top legislature announced shortly afterwards it was banning all tobacco vending machines, even in self-administered Hong Kong and Macau.
China has around 350 million smokers, some 36% of the population, according to the World Health Organization.
There are 1.2 million tobacco-related deaths annually, says a China watchdog.
China sold 1,798bn cigarettes in 2003, making it the world's largest consumer of cigarettes, according to the state news agency Xinhua.
The National People's Congress announced its decision to ratify the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on Sunday, Xinhua said.
Parliament leaders "supported the treaty by announcing that China will ban tobacco vending machines of any kind," the news agency said.
The treaty requires all countries signed up to it to prohibit the sale of tobacco to minors and ban tobacco-related advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
A WHO spokeswoman told the BBC that 78 countries were now party to the treaty, which came into force on 27 February this year.
Jean King, Director of Tobacco Control at Cancer Research UK, said: "Tobacco kills over a million people a year in China, so it is greatly encouraging that the Chinese government has ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
