Quotable

"In 1964, cancer ranked as the fourth-biggest cause of death, while from 1970 to 1989, it ranked second, and data from 2007 showed that it had become the top killer of Chinese people."

Yang Gonghuan, former director of tobacco control at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said as a weeklong campaign was held in Beijing last week to boost public awareness of cancer prevention and control, addressing a growing health crisis the country cannot afford to ignore.