During 2009–2018, the Emory Global Health Institute conducted the Tobacco-Free Cities (TFC) programme in 22 cities in mainland China. This study aims to assess the sustained impact of the TFC programme.

A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was adopted, which focused on the leadership and capacity building, city-level smoke-free policies, tobacco control activities, outcomes of tobacco control, sustainability post TFC programme and the accomplishments of tobacco control. The thematic analysis was employed for qualitative data analysis.

Online in-depth personal interviews.

This qualitative study recruited 17 participants from 10 cities which participated in the TFC programme (five with comprehensive and five with partial smoke-free policies). Interview participants included TFC programme leaders, TFC staff and current tobacco control staff.

First, TFC members reported enhanced competencies in smoke-free policy effort and leadership. Five cities with comprehensive smoke-free policies had a high degree of public support, while cities with partial bans faced barriers such as lack of leadership support and experiencing tobacco industry influence. Tobacco control activities, including media campaigns, policy enforcement, cessation programmes and monitoring activities, were sustained in almost all cities. Enhancement in smoke-free social norms, decrease in smoking rate and second-hand smoking exposure were perceived. Challenges to sustainability included reduced financial and personnel resources and weakened policy enforcement.

The TFC programme was regarded by participants as an effective model that provided the necessary training and technical support to develop and enforce effective and sustainable tobacco control policies and initiatives at the city level in China. Future tobacco control training should focus more on developing concrete solutions for sustainability challenges.