Chronic disease takes high toll on China

More than 3 million people die prematurely each year in China from diseases that are largely preventable, according to a report released on Monday by the World Health Organization.

In 2012, 38 million deaths from noncommunicable diseases, also known as chronic diseases, were recorded globally - including an estimated 8.6 million deaths in China, it said.

Alarmingly, the report reveals that nearly 4 in 10 deaths from chronic disease in Chinese men, and around 3 in 10 such deaths among Chinese women, are premature - that is, occurring before the age of 70.