Residents can fill in a 17-question survey about the proposals online or submit their views by email or post.

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2. How many smoke in Hong Kong and what’s the target?

The city’s percentage of smokers stands at 9.5 per cent, or nearly 600,000 people, with 50 per cent of them aged 50 or above. More than 65 per cent of smokers earned less than HK$20,000 (US$2,560) a month.

The government also identified and increased trend in women smokers, and more than 7 per cent of secondary school pupils have used tobacco products.

Authorities said they expected the health risks posed by smoking will further strain the healthcare system, against a background of an ageing population and a rising number of patients with chronic diseases.

Health officials have set a target of reducing the smoking rate to 7.8 per cent by 2025 based on a recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO), with the long-term goal of becoming a smoke-free city.

3. What about higher cigarette prices?

The government has also proposed an increase in tobacco duty to 75 per cent of the package price – another WHO recommendation.

The government in February raised the duty on a pack of cigarettes by HK$12, bringing the proportion of tax to 64 per cent of the total retail price.

The survey asks residents whether the increase should be done rapidly or in stages every year.

Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau said he supported an annual increase, and highlighted that every 10 per cent increment cut the smoking rate by 4 per cent in developed countries, but he stressed the public had a say in the pace of change.

The government is also asking whether the price adjustment mechanism should be linked to inflation or pegged to the WHO’s recommended level.

Lo has also dismissed suggestions any tax hike would fuel black market sales. Authorities will also crack down on illicit cigarettes and consider adding a duty mark to taxed ones. The government will also weigh whether possessing or consuming black market cigarettes should be made illegal.

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4. What other controversial measures are included?

The government has also proposed banning people born after a certain year from buying cigarettes and raising the age for buying cigarettes from 18.

New Zealand pioneered a lifetime ban and retailers will be fined if caught selling tobacco to anyone born in 2009 or after from 2027.

Hong Kong law only prohibits the sale of tobacco to minors, but in Singapore and the United States the legal age is 21.

The government is also considering whether to make it illegal for minors to possess tobacco if the duty mark is introduced.

Another focus is a ban on possession of alternative smoking products, such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. The importation, promotion, manufacture and sale of such items was prohibited last year.

Questions were also raised about the regulation of additives, including menthol, fruit, and confectionery flavouring, a move authorities said could reduce their attractiveness, especially to youngsters and women.

5. What about smoking in public?

Authorities are also considering expanding non-smoking areas, banning people from smoking while walking and increasing fines for lighting up in places where it is not allowed to HK$3,000 or more.

Lo, at a Legislative Council meeting on Friday, asked people to give stares of disapproval if anyone lit up in non-smoking areas and no law enforcement officers were around.

6. Is anything missing in the questionnaire?

The questionnaire did not clearly indicate the position of the government on the proposals. An insider told the Post the paper was watered down because some Executive Council members had serious concerns that some contentious suggestions could trigger strong opposition from smokers and affected businesses.

Suggestions dropped from the final version included a requirement for shops to have a licence to sell tobacco and a rule that smokers would have to use a government app to verify their age before they could buy cigarettes, the source added.

But the health minister maintained the consultation framework was comprehensive and included all viable measures.

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7. How have stakeholders responded?

The Coalition on Tobacco Affairs, which represents tobacco companies, did not comment on the proposals.

But it appealed to the government to be open-minded and listen to the voices of different stakeholders, so “balanced, appropriate, science-based and feasible” measures could be implemented.

The Long-term Tobacco Policy Concern Group, formed by smokers, criticised the proposed lifetime ban. The organisation insisted it was not scientifically proven to be effective and could encourage the sale of illicit cigarettes.

But Henry Tong Sau-chai, the chairman of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, a statutory body set up to advise the government, backed tougher policies, including a ban on children born after 2009 from buying cigarettes, and increased fines for smoking offences to HK$5,000.

Daniel Ho Sai-yin, an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong’s school of public health and who studies tobacco control policies, said drastic measures, including raising tobacco duty to 75 per cent of the over-the-counter price, were needed to achieve a 7.8 per cent smoking rate in less than two years.

Additional reporting by Sammy Heung