A scene from film Lu Xun. [Photo/Agencies]

Renowned Chinese actor Pu Cunxin said he is supporting anti-smoking campaigns through theater.

"In The Gin Game (a play that Pu stars in), I hold a cigar between my teeth but I don‘t light it. I don’t smoke habitually but I haven‘t tried to quit it either.

"The only time I smoked heavily was when I acted in the film Lu Xun, where there were lots of smoking scenes. I then wrote a proposal to ban smoking on- and off-screen through legislation. For those scenes that must appear, producers should pay the fees to broadcast anti-smoking commercials," said Pu.

Chinese director Zhang Li also supported the proposal.

"A cigarette as a state prop is not irreplaceable. The only problem is when filming great figures in history. So, I've worked around it by letting the actors hold the cigarettes without smoking them," said Zhang.

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