A World Health Organization representative has called for a nationwide ban on smoking indoors in China, to ensure all citizens have access to smoke-free public areas.

Bernhard Schwartl?nder, WHO representative in China, made the remarks on Tuesday, as he was congratulating Shanghai for launching a 100-percent smoke-free policy in public places and work spaces, which will take effect on March 1.

Similar regulations have already been adopted in Beijing and Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

"We celebrate the smoke-free laws in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing," Schwartl?nder said. "But these are among the wealthiest cities in China, which raises the question of inequality. Smoke-free indoor air should not be a luxury for the wealthy, rather an entitlement for all the citizens of China who are hardworking and building the Chinese Dream."

Eighteen cities in China have released regulations on tobacco control, covering 10 percent of China's total population, according to Jiang Yuan, a tobacco control official at the Chinese Center for Diseases Control and Prevention.

National legislation on tobacco control in public places was put forward in 2014, but it is still under discussion, according to the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control.

A major obstacle to the legislation being adopted is the amount of tax that the industry contributes to the economy, Schwartl?nder said.

"Tobacco represents an economy of the past; China's State-owned tobacco companies do not fit the vision of an economy driven by innovative, value-added manufacturing and a strong service sector," he said.

"National leaders should pass comprehensive, national, smoke-free legislation, ensuring that all Chinese citizens, not just those in the wealthiest cities, have smoke-free indoor public environments."