Boss of Didi Kuaidi in mainland China gets treated for breast cancer

Jean Liu Qing, one of the mainland's most successful young businesswomen, is being treated for breast cancer.

Liu, 37, is president of Didi Kuaidi, the mainland's leading taxihailing app, and is the daughter of mainland computer giant Lenovo's founding chairman, Liu Chuanzhi.

Her announcement has drawn renewed concern over the rising incidence of the disease on the mainland.

In an email to staff on Wednesday, Liu said she had the tumour removed a few days ago and had returned home.

Liu said that both she and her doctor were very optimistic and believed her physical condition "will not affect life or work much, nor will it affect usual external activities", The Beijing Times reported, quoting Liu's email.

Liu said she chose to make her disease public because she would be working at home for some time during her treatment and recovery.

Liu, a former Goldman Sachs managing director, joined Didi Dache in July last year and became president of Didi Kuaidi following its merger with rival Kuaidi Dache. She helped Didi raise US$2 billion in funding within two weeks.

According to an annual report by the National Central Cancer Registry, breast cancer has become the most common type of cancer among Chinese women. The risk of getting the disease rises after the age of 25 and peaks between 50 and 54.

According to a paper published in the UK medical journal The Lancet Oncology in June last year, the incidence of breast cancer was low in the mainland, but since the 1990s it had increased at more than twice the global rate, especially in urban areas.

Breast cancer is now the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer-related death among Chinese women.

The paper predicted that unless the trend slowed, the mainland's incidence of breast cancer could rise from fewer than 60 cases per 100,000 women aged 55-69 to more than 100 cases per 100,000 by 2021, reaching 2.5 million cases overall.