Accident and suicide are listed as the No.1 killer for people aged 1 to 34 and those aged 15 to 35 in China, respectively, according to a senior official from the Chinese Ministry of Health.

Accidents kill 800,000 people across China each year, and every year, about 250,000 to 350,000 people commit suicide in the country, said Qi Xiaoqiu, head of the Disease Control Department with the Ministry of Health while addressing a recent forum on construction of a public health network held in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province.

"Accidents have not only caused a great number of deaths, but also led to a great many people with injuries, posing a serious threat to the public health sector in China," said the official.

He urged relevant government departments to attach great importance to preventing and controlling occurrence of accidents in the future.

(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2005)