Without intervention and cessation, roughly one in three of all young men in China would end up dying from smoking-related diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular conditions, according to new research published in the medical journal The Lancet.

Currently, about two-thirds of young Chinese men smoke, and a majority begin to light up before age 20. It is estimated that half of them will eventually die as a result of smoking if they don't quit, the studies found. Researchers from Oxford University, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Chinese Center for Disease Control conducted the studies, in which young men were defined as those born after 1970.

"The only key to averting this huge wave of deaths is smoking cessation," said Li Liming, a study co-author from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. "Be aware of the health harms of tobacco and do not take to smoking," Li advised.