A report released by the National Cancer Prevention and Control Office showed more than 1.3 million Chinese die of cancer every year, Xinhua (the New China News Agency) said yesterday.
The annual figure will rise to 1.4 million by 2000, it said.
Office director Li Liandi said China needed to promote the concepts of early treatment and health education in order to save more people from cancer.
The report said cancer had become the second most fatal disease in China after respiratory illness.
According to the report, about 80 per cent of victims die from stomach, liver or lung cancer.
It said the cancer mortality rate had risen 30 per cent in the past 20 years.
Lung cancer had doubled in the past 20 years and become the biggest killer among all diseases in Chinese cities.
