China National Tobacco Corporation has apologized for breaking the smoking ban in Beijing and disturbing law enforcement.

This comes after staff members from a training center run by the company barred a group of anti-smoking inspectors last week.

It was the first such case reported since the Chinese capital issued a strict new anti-smoking regulation in June, which bans virtually all indoor smoking in public areas.

Wang Benjin is a law enforcement officer from Beijing Health Inspection.

"We found many other violations in the training center. First, they don't have a tobacco control system. Second, there are cigarette butts. And there are cigarette advertisements attached on the tissue boxes and bottles."

The news soon triggered wide attention as China Tobacco is also China's largest cigarette producers in terms of sales.

Although company has apologized for breaking the law and disturbing law enforcement, experts claim that the implementation of the smoking ban still has long way to go.

Chairman of Beijing Tobacco Control Association Zhang Jianshu says the anti-smoking effort should cover more than just the general public.

"We should step up effort to the enforcement of the smoking ban, especially when it comes to certain individuals or groups who might deter the ban due to their financial links to the tobacco industry. The police department, city management department, and health inspectors should coordinate with each other to ensure a better implementation of the smoking ban."

Since the new smoking ban took effect, authorities in Beijing have launched over 20,000 inspections at 13,000 locations, handing out fines and other punishments to 73 companies and 179 individuals.