captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2008 these chinese products are also moving up the chain from a very low end to a medium end. for instance, we're now able to produce very good fine fiber. this situation is, of course, determining by the increase of our labor costs, the change of our taxation and incentive policies. so this forces chinese exporters to move up the chain. china always seeks to strike a relative balance between import trade and export trade. we never potentially pursue

trade surplus with other countries. so, china has 1.3 billion people, 19% of the world's total population, its export trade alone constitutes 10% or 11% of the world's total trade. this was the figure for the year before last. for the last year year's figure, we'll wait until they release it. so, 10%, 11% export made by 19% of the world's population is not a very big proportion, and look at germany, its population is much smaller, but a share in the world export trade is similar to that of china, so china are an exporter in this country. at this moment china is the biggest exporter in the world. but at the same time we should

remind us china is also the second biggest importer country in the world. so, i am very confident that think we have 1.3 billion people, we have a very big space for adjustments. in an extra few years china will become the biggest importer in the world. by 2020 the total china domestic market will become the biggest one in the whole world. so, i given all this said, i am not worried about any significant impact of ideology. because ideology is not welcomed in the trade world. and ideology is not in a position to challenge the principle of openness and fair play. because after all china will be

the biggest market, biggest importer of the world and at the same time china is able to maintain a relative balance between import trade and export trade. so, i'm not very worried about the ideology matter or problem. my ministry has diplomatic presentation in over 150 countries. and we have those chinese diplomats have never come to the problem that purely because of ideological problems those countries refuse to trade with china. but, of course, at the same time we also encounter some problems of export control policy practiced by some countries. due to their national security reasons or they are reluctant to accept chinese investments into their own countries.

that's why i said earlier the trade imbalance between china and those countries is not completely caused by exchange rate. it is also caused by trade policy. and i don't think the practices of those countries are fair for their own countries, for their own industries. that's not in their own interest, so china's very confident that 1.3 billion population, they are our strongest, most accountable force backing us to continue to develop our external trade. we will not create trouble for the countries. thank you. >> the military's northern and southern command oversee u.s. military operations in the western hemisphere. a little later this morning the senate armed services committees look at the 2013 budget and what it means for the northern and southern command, that meeting will be live at c-span3 at 9:30

a.m. eastern. >> this is c-span3 with politics and public affairs programming throughout the week, and every weekend 48 hours of people and events telling the american story on american history tv. get our schedules and see past programs at our website and you can join in the conversation on social media sites. >> a new report from the surgeon generals on the one in four high school seniors smoke cigarettes and 80% of them will go on to smoke as adults. surgeon general regina benjamin and house and services secretary kathleen sebelius spoke about the report last week for about half an hour. >> what a well behaved group. well, good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us

here today. i'm delighted to be here to kick off the announcement of the 2012 surgeon general's report on tobacco use among youth and young adults. and i want to start by acknowledging some of my terrific colleagues, dr. regina benjamin, the surgeon general who you'll hear from in a few minutes, dr. david satcher, who is with us, a former surgeon general who has been involved in this effort for a lot of time. dr. howard coe, my assistant secretary for health who you'll also hear from. we have key members of the office of the assistant secretary of health staff, leadership, a wonderful team here from cdc, dr. perry, who's the author of this report who comes from texas to be with us today, and lots of you have been

involved in this effort for a long time. since the first surgeon general's report on tobacco was published in 1964, the good news is we've seen a percentage of americans who smoked steadily decline. in 1965, over 42% of americans smoked. by 2004, it had fallen to just under 21%. and that's very good news. but for all the progress we've made, tobacco use remains the biggest single threat to american's health. it kills an estimated 443,000 americans every year. 443,000. and every tobacco-related death is replaced by two new smokers under the age of 25. today's report brings more troubling news. it's the first of its kind to underscore the causes and consequences of tobacco use

against youth and young adults and it shows just what we're up against. today, all over america, there are middle schoolers developing deadly tobacco addictions before they can even drive a car. and the younger a child is when they tried cigarettes, the more likely they are to get and stay addicted to nicotine. one child picking up a tobacco product is one too many, but the fact that each and every day across the america more than 3,800 kids under 18 smoke their first cigarette is completely unacceptable. but this report also underscores the importance of the historic efforts the obama administration has taken to stop youth from using tobacco products and to help adults quit smoking. since the numbers weren't changing fast enough, we had to change the way we read our communities of tobacco so that's exactly what we're doing.

we push wide-raging legislation that among other things makes it hard for tobacco companies to market to our children. it also restricts companies from using terms like light or mild on products and in marketing and it bans certain candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes. all of those were techniques aimed at people often younger than 18. that legislation had been debated for years and years in this country and we finally got it done. we're also supporting local programs to help people quit smoking and stop people from starting in the first place. as part of last year's health care law, we gave americans better access to counseling to help them stop smoking before they get sick. around the country we've got great partners. we've seen the states join this fight with 28 states and washington, d.c., passing smoke-free laws to improve health. over the last three years we've made great strides in our fights

against tobacco and our efforts are paying off. but today's report is an important reminder that we have a lot more work to do to make tobacco death and disease a part of our past and not a part of our future. again, thank you for being here today for this important announcement and i'd like to turn this over to our assistant secretary for health, dr. howard coe, howard. >> thank you so much, madam secretary, and thank you so much for being here, everyone. the secretary has another commitment and has to leave, but we want to, of course, thank her for her tremendous leadership and dedication to eliminating the tobacco epidemic. i too am delighted to see so many wonderful friends and colleagues here and let me thank dr. benjamin who you'll be hearing from in just a minute, our great colleagues at the department of health and services at the fda and cdc and

the assistant of the assistant secretary and we want to thank all of our colleagues who helped edit and write this important product and most important we want to thank each and every one of you for being here to support this very, very important effort and this great day. we're here today to bring heightened urgency to the tremendous public health burden that tobacco continues to impose on our youth. a burden that's completely avoidable and completely preventable. too many of our children are addicted. too many cannot quit. and too many go on to die far too young. in fact, as you've heard from our secretary, each day more than 1,200 people die due to smoking and each death is replaced by at least two new smokers under the age of 26. i have personally witnessed this cycle of dependence and despair as a physician who has cared for

patients for over 30 years and i can tell you, it is heartbreaking when our patients tell us that they want to stop smoking, but they haven't yet been able to do so. and it is tragic when our lung cancer patients tell us that they started smoking as kids years ago to impress the kids next door. today we understand even more clearly that youth smoking is not an accident. it doesn't just happen. each year the tobacco industry spends $10 billion on marketing and promotion of tobacco products. this exceeds $1 million an hour, over $27 million a day in the u.s. alone. the tobacco industry says that their intent is only to promote brand choices among adult smokers. but there is a difference between stated intent and documented impact.

because regardless of intent, the impact of tobacco marketing is to encourage underage youth. and, in fact, nearly 90% of smokers start by age 18, and more than 80 per of underage smokers choose brands from among the top three most heavily advertised. you'll hear in this report a major conclusion that advertising and promotional activities by tobacco companies cause -- cause -- the onset and continuation of smoking among adolescents and young adults. research documents a dose/response relationship. the more young people are exposed to marketing and promotional activities, the more likely they are to smoke. far too many kids still see smoking images and messages every day that normalize this dependence. for example, if in 2010 a third

of the top produced films for children contained smoking. more than half of our states continue to allow smoking in public places. images and messages normalize tobacco dependence in magazines and on the internet and in retail stores. in short kids see smoking in the movies they watch, the video games they play, the websites they visit and in the communities where they live. in 1997 to 2003, youth smoking fell rapidly. but since that time, the rate of decline has slowed. in fact, there would be 3 million viewer smokers today if we as a society had sustained the success in declines seen between '97 and 2003. and of great concern we're also seeing youth consume other tobacco products including smokeless tobacco, puand small

cigars. we can pinpoint 3.6 million youth cigarette smokers as well as 1.7 million adolessecents usg smokeless tobacco and little cigars. in fact, among those who use tobacco, more than half of high school males and nearly a third of high school females use more than one type of tobacco product whether it be cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco or some other form. this surgeon general's report not only provides powerful detail about the factors that lead to youth use but also identify proven effective strategies that can advance prevention. we at the department of health and human services have committed to strengthening and fully implementing the proven effective strategies as part of our comprehensive, coordinated national approach.

in november 2010, we were proud to release ending the tobacco epidemic, the tobacco controlled strategic action plan from the department of health and human services. the plan sets forth specific actions that the department can implement, progress and build on recent hegtive milestones, respond to the changing market of tobacco products and support robust tobacco control programs throughout the country. we have ample evidence that these comprehensive, multicomponent interventions work. such programs more than pay for themselves in terms of lives saved and dollars saved. the current problem is that we have not yet fully applied the evidence-based tools that would end this epidemic. between 2005 and 2010, 20 states had declines in smoking and we need to accelerate these declines in each and every state

and sustain them to benefit all of our kids for the future. until we end the tobacco epidemic, even more young people will become addicted. even more will die. and even more fam his will be heft behind devastated by the loss of loved ones. so, thank you so much for being here today. we must redouble our collective commitment to accelerating comprehensive programs, making cessation services accessible and affordable, creating an environment that denormalizes this dependence, and most of all give our young people a fighting chance to be healthy and tobacco free. thank you very, very much for being here. i'm very pleased to introduce our surgeon general, dr. regina benjamin.

>> good morning. such a nice turnout. thank you all for being so interested in such an important public issue. thank you for sharing with us the department's and administration's commitment to tobacco control. i'd like to say a very special thank you to our secretary sebelius even though she had to leave for her strong and unrelenting leadership on this most public health issue. she has made it a top priority. i'd like to recognize my tobacco free advocates and young students and group that i've been working with over the years, they come from north carolina and virginia. why don't you guys stand up. there are some others. and also the others who are watching on the web as we web stream this.

you know, 2012 surgeon general's report preventing tobacco use among youth and young adults is the result of contributions of more than 130 health experts and so i'd like to recognize the eder tos who are with us today, dr. perry, dr. stigner that are here and you will still be here to help with the question and answers if you get into too detailed. i think dr. woody kesen is here to represent dr. c. everett coop, and thank you for being here. i'd like to thank and rec news my medical school mentor, the 16th surgeon general and all of the former surgeon generals for their work on tobacco nationally and internationally. every surgeon general since 1964 has weighed in on the issue of

tobacco, and everyone has called for an immediate action to solve this problem. today's release is the 31st surgeon general's report on tobacco, preventing tobacco use among youth and young adults. and it reminds us once again that the burden of tobacco putting a heavy burden on a society. the report challenges us to end the epidemic of smoking among young people. and the numbers in this report are shocking. you've heard some of them earlier but they're worth repeating. every day 1,200 americans die from smoking. and each of those people are being replaced by two young smokers. almost 90% of those replacement smokers smoke their first cigarette before they're 18. and despite all the reductions in tobacco use in the past decade, today more than 600,000 middle school students smoke, and 3 million high school students smoke cigarettes.

also nearly 1 in 3 young adults between the ages of 18 and 26 smoke. and this is the higher rate than any other age group, so this is a serious public health issue. one of the most serious findings in this report is about nicotine addiction and the younger they begin smoking the more likely they are to become addicted. every year 1.4 million youth under the age of 18 try their first cigarette. and many of them end up being lifelong smokers. cigarettes are designed for addiction. and nicotine is the key chemical compound that causes a powerful affect with cigarettes. added ingredients and design features make them more addictive than ever of before. many ingredients like sugar and moisture enhancements, when they

are added they remove the harshness and improve the taste. chemical ingredients such as pneumonia convert nicotine called free nicotine that crosses little the blood/brain barrier. all these design features work together to enhance the addictive kick and the pleasure that smokers feel. and adolescentses a bodies are more sensitive to nicotine and they are more easily addicted than adults. this explains why more than 1,000 teenagers become smokers and they continue to smoke well into adulthood even if they had attempted to quit in a few years. and there are also on other tobacco products that youth find appealing.

some of the cigarette sized cigars include fruit flavored and candy flavored like strawberry and grape. and some of the smokeless tobacco products are spitless or smell like mint. they can be used in front of mom and dad and even, you know, because they can't be detected and they may not know that their kids are use them, but i can cause nicotine addiction that can lead to serious disease and death. this report also highlights some of the health effects. in addition to the increased risk for serious chronic disease like cancer and heart disease and emphysema, there's an immediate damage to the heart and to the lungs. studies show that many young smokers have early cardiovascular damage. particularly early changes in the aart ta. that puts them at higher risk

for aortic dissection and they tend to die very young. smoking in adolescent slows the development of lung function and teens who smoke can end up as adults that don't reach their full functioning capacity. another finding shows that marketing and advertising to young people have been very successful. the scientists use epidemiological studies to show causality. the more youth is exposed to marketing and advertisements, the more likely they are to maintain and start smoking. in the united states alone more than $1 million an hour, over $27 million a day is spent on targing messages and images to portray smoking as an acceptable or appealing activity. we know that prevention is the key.

99% of smokers began smoking before the age of 25, so we want to prevent the next generation from starting to smoke. if we can get them from smoking, less than 20% will start. we know what works, when we enact smoke free laws, we support healthy decisions. we know when we increase the price of tobacco, smoking rates decline among youth. we also know when we educate the public with aggressive media campaigns, we inform them of the risks, encourage tobacco users to quit and prevent youth from starting to smoke. and science tells us that the sustained, multicomponent programs prevent young people from starting to use tobacco. we saw this approach in new york city when they cut their youth

smoking in half in as little as six years. we have implemented these types of comprehensive tobacco programs in the past and we saw a steady decline when the rate of youth use between 1997 and 2003. had we maintained that course, we could have prevented 3 million smokers. we need to bring back that level of commitment. bring it back to the programs today. it's time for us to really end the single most preventable cause of death in this nation. as you can see, we're committed to saying we can make our next generation tobacco free. so, i've tried to describe to you some of the many findings in this 2012 surgeon general's report. the full report is 900 pages long. and it's really written for a scientific audience. but it really is important.

and all of americans understand that we can end this tobacco epidemic by preventing youth from ever starting to use it and so we've developed a consumer booklet that you can see that's in your packet, and it's written in plain language and good graphics and it's entitled "the surgeon john's report preventing tobacco use among youth and young adults." we can make the next generation tobacco free. and i'd like to say thanks to the centers for disease control and prevention office of smoking held, because they helped us with a new project, so i'd like to formally and officially launch the surgeon general's video challenge. this is a competition to engage young people in developing original video that feature one or more of the surgeon general's report findings. contestants are encouraged to use this consumer piece that i just showed you as a guide to

writing their health messages and videos and the contest will have two age categories with english and spanish, age 14 to 18 and age 18 to 24. and you can join as an individual or as groups with teens such as schools. and after you submit your video it will be screened, and after out screened eligible videos will be put up on cdc's youth view channel for public voting and the top ten of those will be judged by an expert pam. there's also a $5,000 grand prize and several $500 runner ups. we're looking forward to have good videos in this competition. more information can be found at surgeongeneral.gov. so i thought i would now show you my video that is also called a pasa or public service

announcement. >> at 12 i smoked my first cigarette. >> at 16 i was addicted. >> by 40 i'll have lung disease. >> at 50 i'll die of a heart attack. >> cigarette smoke causes immediate damage that leads to health problems even death. those who quit or die are being replaced by a new generation of smokers. i'm dr. regina benjamin united states surgeon general. go to cdc.gov and learn how to make our next generation tobacco free. i'd like dr. cheryl perry to join dr. coe and i and we'll be happy to take your questions.