Cancer and stroke are the top two causes of death for Chinese, the Ministry of Health reported when releasing the results of its third national survey for causes of death (2006-08) which is based on two years of research and covers about 210 million residents of 160 Chinese cities and counties.

The report of the survey on causes of death also ranked respiratory diseases third on the list, followed by heart diseases at fourth place and injuries/poisoning the fifth.

"The number of Chinese who died from the above five reasons account for 85% of the country’s total deaths," MOH spokesman Deng Haihua told a press conference in Beijing yesterday.

The death rate of the country's rural and urban residents, particularly of those who died from chronic diseases, was higher than world average levels. The death rate of cerebrovascular diseases in China, for example, was up to five times higher than the record in Europe and the United States, and 3.5 times higher than in Japan. While China's cancer death rate was close to that of the US, Britain and France, it was much higher than other Asian countries like Japan, India and Thailand.

The number of deaths in rural areas was 19% higher than in urban areas. Within urban areas, the death rate in less developed western cities was 25% higher than in the more developed east.

The differences were reflective of the yawning gap between the country's rural and urban areas in terms of health awareness and living standards, Deng said. Disparities in economic development between rural and urban regions, which lead to an imbalance in medical care and health awareness, can influence the death rate in different areas, Deng said.

The five top causes of deaths also ranked differently in urban and rural areas. Cancer was the No 1 killer in cities, followed by cerebrovascular diseases, heart diseases, respiratory diseases and injuries/poisoning. In rural areas, however, the leading five causes of death are cerebrovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases, heart diseases and injuries/poisoning. Heart diseases were more common than respiratory diseases in urban areas, while the opposite was true for the countryside.

"The issues of urbanization and an aging society both influence the lifestyle and health habits of citizens," said Rao Keqin, the director of the center for health statistics and information under the MOH. "With urbanization and economic development, many urbanites have shown unprecedented zeal in pursuing healthy lifestyles," Rao said.

Currently, the death rate from cancers has increased by 83.1% over the mid-1970s and by 22.5 percent over the early 1990s, MOH statistics showed. In urban areas, deaths from lung, intestine, pancreas and breast cancers are higher, while in rural areas, deaths from liver, stomach, gullet and cervical cancers are higher. Cancers related to living environment and lifestyles - lung, liver, colorectal, breast and bladder cancer - are also said to be rising.