BEIJING - Cigarette smoking among junior Chinese middle school students has declined in the past five years, says a newly-released survey report.

In 2019, 12.9 percent of junior middle school students said they have tried cigarettes, down 5 percent from 2014, said the report released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition, 69.9 percent of junior middle school students said they have heard of e-cigarettes in 2019, up 24.9 percent compared with 2014, the report said.

"For the sake of their own health and that of their families, teenagers should choose a healthy lifestyle and stay away from tobacco and e-cigarettes all their lives," said Jiang Hui, a health expert with the Peking University Third Hospital.