More than 300,000 Chinese died of liver cancer and hepatocirrhosis linked to hepatitis B each year, raising the alarm on the disease, said Chinese experts.

Ten infectious disease experts, who are members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, attended a medical forum in east China's Zhejiang Province last week, discussing prevention and control of the infectious diseases.

They urged people to improve their awareness on the prevention and treatment of the hepatitis B and tuberculosis diseases.

At present, it's estimated that 120 million Chinese are carrying hepatitis B virus, of whom 20 percent would develop into hepatitis B patients, said Li Lanjuan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

It is hard to prevent and control hepatitis B at present. The hepatitis B vaccine shows no effect on about five percent of its receivers, and the medicine being used can not kill the virus completely, added Li.

The experts said with painstaking efforts, the rate of hepatitis B virus carriers among the total population may decrease from current 9.7 percent to five percent in 2010.

China has recently stepped up the efforts to raise public awareness of the disease. The Chinese Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control(CFHPC) has invited Andy Lau, a famous Hong Kong star, who is also a hepatitis B virus carrier, to be the publicity ambassador for the prevention and control of the disease.

The Ministry of Health has begun a year-long nationwide survey of the hepatitis B situation, in order to update data and guidelines on prevention and control of the disease.

The survey, to run from September 2006 to September 2007, involves collecting blood serum samples from 79,000 residents aged one to 59, conducting lab tests, filing archives and making reports for future control plans.

(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2006)