From October 16 to 21, 2000, promoted and chaired by the World Health Organization (WHO), the 1st session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (hereinafter as the convention) was held in Geneva. 150 countries, 10 international organizations and 25 NGOs sent delegates to the meeting. Prior to this, the Working Group held 2 meetings in October 1999 and March 2000, and formulated the framework draft resolution of the convention, consisted of 6 parts, including the preamble, the definition, the objectives and guiding principles, the obligations, its bodies, its implementation, the development of the convention and the final articles and clauses. The part of the obligations all are the substantive contents of the convention, which concern the sale of tobacco to the youth, contacting tobacco smoke, the control of the ingredients of tobacco products, the control of the unveiling of tobacco products, domestic tax and customs tax free sale, advertisement, promotion of sales and sponsorship, treatment of tobacco dependence, elimination of smuggling, packaging and labeling, monitoring, research, education, training and public awareness, cooperation in the fields of science, technology and law , responsibility and compensation, exchange of information and financial resource.

The meeting elected members of the presidium and reached consensus on the mode of working for the next meeting, the expanding of the attendance of the NGOs and other issues but it did not hold substantive negotiations on the draft resolution of the convention. At the meeting, the delegates made general interventions, all supporting the formulation of the convention and the relevant protocol. Their views were rather unanimous on health education, scientific and technological cooperation, combating smuggling and controlling tobacco ads and promotion of sales but they differed rather widely on unifying tobacco tax rates, increasing tobacco prices, substitution of tobacco farming, national reporting system and the linkage of the international law and the domestic law. The majority of the countries held that the convention should be loose, general and principled and specific contents and obligations could be put in the protocol. Some developing countries with a higher degree of dependence on the tobacco economy, worried that controlling tobacco might have a negative impact, hoped that their situation could be taken into account in the convention and protocol and requested the developed countries to provide them with financial and technical support.

The Chinese Delegation, consisted of officials from the State Development and Planning Commission, the Ministry of Health, the State Economic and Trade Commission, the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Finance and the State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, attended the meeting. It actively and constructively participated in all the consultations between meetings, not only safeguarded China's rights and interests as a big power of production and consumption of tobacco in the world but also established its image as a responsible big power.