Objective:To assess the impact of the construction of smoke-free government on the smoking and cessation behaviors of staff members.Methods:This was a retrospective cohort study. The study used stratified random cluster sampling method to select 144 government institutions from 31 Provinces (Autonomous Regions and Municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The survey was carried out between October and November, 2023 by filling out questionnaires online among the insiders of the institutions and all the smoking staff members. The main indicators included the number of smokers before and after the construction of smoke-free governments and the measures for the construction of smoke-free governments. 144 questionnaires from insiders were recovered, all of which were included in the analysis; 1 776 questionnaires from smokers were recovered, including 1 716 valid questionnaires. The SAS 9.4 was used to perform χ 2 test and log-binomial regression analysis. Results:The percentage of smoking staff members decreased from 8.81% before the construction to 6.70% after the construction, and the difference was statistically significant ( χ 2=63.23, P<0.001). Comprehensive smoking ban in indoor public places ( OR=2.301, 95% CI: 1.433-3.694), punishment mechanism for smoking staff members ( OR=1.219, 95% CI: 1.124-1.322), smoking cessation competitions ( OR=1.865, 95% CI: 1.234-2.818) and reimbursement for or provision of smoking cessation medications ( OR=2.210, 95% CI: 1.002-4.874) were facilitators to motivate the smoking staff members to quit (all P<0.01). Numbers of smoking leaders ( OR=0.858, 95% CI: 0.807-0.913) and smoking years of smoking staff members ( OR=0.932, 95% CI: 0.918-0.946) negatively influenced the smoking staff members to quit (both P<0.001). Conclusions:The construction of smoke-free governments can effectively promote the smoking cessation behaviors of smoking staff members. In addition, comprehensive smoke-free policies, punishment mechanism for smoking staff members and activities such as smoking cessation competitions, and reimbursement for or provision of smoking cessation medications are important.