The FINANCIAL -- BEIJING. Counterfeit cigarettes worth over $1.7 million were burned in northeastern China on the eve of the World Consumer Rights Day, local media reported on March 15.

Smokers constitute 350 million, or some 30% of China's more than 1.3 billion population. Last year authorities received over 720,000 complaints on the quality of tobacco products. More than $117 million was paid in damages for counterfeit cigarettes in 2009.

The demonstrative fire on March 14 consumed the fake tobacco products in the city of Changchun in the Jilin Province.

World Consumer Rights Day has been marked March 15 since 1983. The key rights of consumers are the rights to: safety, information, choice, be heard, redress, consumer education, satisfaction of basic needs and a healthy environment.

A pack of cigarettes costs 2 to 200 yuan ($0.3 to $30) in China.

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