Lack of diagnosis hampers efforts (3)

Roughly 60 percent of Chinese patients take an oral medication and the rest a combination of insulin injections and oral medications, statistics from the Chinese Diabetes Society showed.

Ji said that around 60 percent of patients suffer complications of various severity.

According to Ji, 80 percent of the mainland's annual diabetes treatment costs are for complications, which involve a lot of inpatient care.

"A poor control of blood-sugar level is mainly to be blamed," he said.

Less than half of diabetics manage to keep their blood-sugar levels under control, he added.

Kong said health authorities will enhance diabetes control efforts, particularly at grassroots-level health facilities.

By 2030, China will have 40 million new diabetes cases on the mainland, and the treatment cost for all patients will reach about $28 billion annually, the International Diabetes Federation estimated.