Objective To summarize the pros and cons of tobacco control interventions in China, identify existing problems, propose potential directions for future research, and provide reference for future practice.

Methods Keyword search method was used to obtain literatures published during 2006-2015 through two databases:China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and PubMed.

Results A total of 85 papers of interest were selected; 72 were written in Chinese and 13 in English. Despite the increasing number of papers relevant to tobacco control in recent years, most focused on similar topics and were conducted in well-developed cities or areas, while rural and remote areas and minorities were not yet involved. Most interventions were short-term, and long-term projects were insufficient. Meanwhile, since the interventions and assessments of capacity building were often absent in most projects, it was difficult to ensure the long-term effects. A majority of the studies were conducted to evaluate tobacco control policies or smoking cessation drug efficacy in China.

Conclusion Current interventions and practice of tobacco control are concentrated into a few topics and areas, displaying imbalanced development between areas. In addition, more innovative and initiative interventions are needed.