China has admitted that drug addiction in the country has been increasing alarmingly, with more than one million drug users being registered by the government last year. Quoting government statistics, the official Xinhua news agency said that there had been an 11% rise in the number of drug users since 2001.
The agency said that the authorities uncovered more than 100,000 cases of drug-related offences, which led to the arrest of 90,000 people last year.
The announcement comes on the International Anti-Drug Day which is being marked in China with the execution of a number of people convicted of drug-trafficking.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
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