Chinese tobacco regulators are calling for comprehensive awareness¹ and control on electronic cigarettes -- an alternative to cigarettes which currently operates in a regulatory gray area under the country's nationwide ban for public smoking, according to thepaper.cn.

据澎湃新闻报道，中国烟草监管机构呼吁全面提高对电子烟的认识，并对其进行控制。电子烟是一种替代香烟的产品，而目前，电子烟在全国范围内的公共场所禁烟中处于监管的灰色地带。

"We are currently calling for relevant departments to look into regulation for standardized² control on e-cigarettes and prohibit its public use like tobacco," says Zhang Jianshu, president of the Beijing Tobacco Control Association.

北京控烟协会会长张建枢表示：“我们目前正在呼吁有关部门研究电子烟的规范化控制条例，像烟草一样禁止电子烟在公共场合使用。”

Currently there're no regulations on e-cigarettes in China when it comes to tobacco control, healthcare or production management, nor the use of e-cigarettes in public places, for the device is not formally regulated as a tobacco product, thepaper reports.

澎湃新闻报道称，目前中国在烟草控制、医疗保健和生产管理方面还没有关于电子烟的规定，在公共场所使用电子烟也没有规定，因为电子烟并没有被正式规定为烟草产品。

The call to ban e-cigarettes in public comes after several high-profile incidents have raised a red flag on the issue.

在几起备受瞩目的事件引发公众对这一问题的担忧之后，有关部门发出了在公共场合禁止使用电子烟的呼吁。

北京控烟协会拟推动电子烟纳入控烟范围

Last month, two Air China pilots' licenses³ were revoked⁴ after a vaping incident in the cockpit sent the plane to an emergency descent of more than 6,500 meter (21,000 feet) due to the sudden loss of cabin pressure.

上个月，中国国际航空股份有限公司两名飞行员的驾驶执照被吊销，原因是驾驶舱内的突发事故导致飞机因舱压突然下降而紧急降落超过6500米(2.1万英尺)。

In the same week, a passenger smoking an e-cigarette in a Beijing subway carriage stirred debate on social media about whether or not e-cigarettes should be considered smoking.

同一周，一名在北京地铁车厢内吸电子烟的乘客在社交媒体上引发了关于电子烟是否应被视为吸烟的辩论。

Invented by a Chinese pharmacist in 2003, e-cigarettes are commonly believed to be safer than tobacco cigarettes and may help smokers⁵ quit.

电子烟是2003年由一位中国药剂师发明的，人们普遍认为电子烟比香烟更安全，可能有助于吸烟者戒烟。

However, some experts are warning that e-cigarettes are not harmless, and have called into question their usefulness in helping⁶ people to stop smoking, reports gbtimes.

然而，据《gbtimes》报道，一些专家警告称，电子烟并不是无害的，他们对电子烟在帮助人们戒烟方面的作用提出了质疑。

E-cigarettes usually contain nicotine⁷, which makes second-hand⁸ smoke from e-cigarettes harmful, according to Zhang.

张建枢表示，电子烟通常也含有尼古丁，这使得电子烟中的二手烟也具有危害。

As of now, a few Chinese cities have taken steps to regulate e-cigarettes as a tobacco product. For example, authorities in Hangzhou City in east China's Zhejiang Province have included inhaling⁹ or exhaling¹⁰ vapor¹¹ as smoking.

到目前为止，中国一些城市已经采取措施，将电子烟作为一种烟草产品加以监管。例如，中国东部浙江省杭州市的有关部门已将吸入或呼出烟雾纳入吸烟的范围。