900,000 new cases of TB a year

Falling number still prompts extra measures from central government

Despite a downward trend of tuberculosis cases in recent years, China reports roughly 900,000 new cases annually, keeping it among the 30 countries with the highest incidence of the infectious disease, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

By the end of 2016, the TB incidence rate stood at 61 per 100,000 people in China, down 14 percent since 2011, the latest statistics from the commission's disease prevention and control bureau showed. The commission is the nation's top health authority.