And the figure continues to rise, with about 1.2 million new cases each year, Professor Yang Wenying, chairwoman of the diabetes branch of the Chinese Medical Association said recently at a meeting.

The number of diabetes patients in China is second only to that of India, which has 40.9 million. The disease in China might still be underreported as many cases are thought to be undiagnosed, Yang said.

Most cases are found in urban areas, Yang said, citing medical studies on diabetes prevalence in Beijing and Shanghai.About 10 percent of residents in the two cities were found to have acquired type 2 diabetes, whereas the figure is about 4 percent among rural adults, Yang said.