China has cut its premature death rate from cardiovascular conditions, cancer and other major chronic diseases by nearly 19 percent in the past decade, and is redoubling efforts in tackling obesity to further curb its incidence, said officials during the weekend.

Cao Xuetao, vice-minister of the National Health Commission, said that the premature death rate for people age 30 to 70 with chronic illnesses — that is, the possibility of them dying from cardiovascular or respiratory diseases, cancer and diabetes — fell from 18.5 percent in 2015 to 15 percent last year.

Chronic conditions are the biggest killer of Chinese people, accounting for over 80 percent of deaths annually.

China has made great efforts to boost the prevention and control of chronic diseases at the grassroots level, including building demonstration areas across the nation where comprehensive efforts promoting healthy lifestyles and early screenings have been rolled out.

So far, 488 such demonstration areas have been built, covering 17.1 percent of county-level regions, Cao said during the opening ceremony of the 2024 China Conference on Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention and Control that was held in Beijing on Saturday.

The two-day event was held by the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association and several other national disease research institutions.

Shen Hongbing, director of the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, said that the rates of Chinese people's awareness, treatment and control of high blood pressure and diabetes have all significantly increased.

However, he added that the control rate is only growing at a relatively modest pace, signifying that it is important to translate health literacy about these diseases into concrete action to curb them in an effective and scientific manner.

"Rapid urbanization, an aging population and lifestyle changes have compounded challenges in tackling chronic diseases, and incidence rates of key chronic diseases are rising or remaining at a high level," he said.

"More efforts are needed to intervene in the lifestyles of the public and focus on weight management," said Shen.

Official data shows that about 57 percent of Chinese adults are either obese or overweight. From 2013 to last year, the overweight rate for adults rose by 4.5 percentage points, and the obesity rate among adult residents increased by 6 percentage points.

As part of efforts to stem obesity, China launched a three-year campaign in June aimed at helping residents achieve a healthy weight and adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Martin Taylor, the World Health Organization's representative to China, said that obesity is not just a chronic disease in itself, but also spikes the risk of diabetes, heart disease and other chronic conditions.

"It is encouraging to see weight management placed at the core of China's noncommunicable disease prevention strategy, fostering cross-sectoral collaboration and prioritizing prevention," he said.

In addition to building environments that encourage an active lifestyle, such as creating accessible parks, walking lanes and spaces for sport, dance and exercise, he also suggested enabling consumers to make healthier choices more easily, such as adding clear and interpretive labeling on prepackaged foods and imposing marketing restrictions on unhealthy products.

Besides strengthened prevention action, Taylor said that health systems should be beefed up to ensure the early detection and effective management of obesity and chronic diseases.

"This means training healthcare professionals, expanding access to quality services and making essential medicines and technologies available to all who need them," he said.

In a crucial step toward improving the standard diagnosis and treatment of obesity, the National Health Commission released a related guideline on Thursday.

Ji Linong, director of the endocrinology department at Peking University People's Hospital, said during an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald that the guideline details different types of interventions and therapies for obesity and is expected to help healthcare workers tailor weight loss plans for different patients.