HONG KONG -- Hong Kong is to ban smoking in all restaurants and demand stiff warnings be printed on cigarette packets in a move aimed at protecting public health, a report said Sunday.

The plans are expected to meet with fierce opposition from restaurant owners and the tobacco industry.

The government's proposals will be put before the Legislative Council at the end of this year, the Sunday ***Morning Post*** cited an official source as saying.

Hong Kong's new health chief, Lam Ping-yan has said tobacco control was at the top of his list of priorities.

Under the new proposals, up to 50 percent of cigarette packets will carry verbal or pictorial health warnings. Words such as "low tar" and "mild" which suggest such products are less harmful could be removed, the source said.

Health inspectors and officers may in future ask smokers to desist in non-smoking areas, instead of relying on police to take action.

Under the proposals, smoking will be outlawed in all restaurants regardless of size. Currently, only a restaurant that has more than 200 seats is required to designate at least a third of its area as a no-smoking zone.

When the plan was first raised in 2001, some 6,000 staff from the restaurant and catering business took to the streets claiming such a move would harm trade and cause job losses, AFP reported.

However, the daily's source added that bars, discos, nightclubs and hotels may be temporarily exempt from the new regulations, although these would ultimately be subject to the same restrictions.