Cervarix was approved by the China Food and Drug Administration in July last year. [Photo: shanghai.xinmin.cn]

The first imported batch of Cervarix, the cervical cancer vaccine, has passed quality inspections and is heading to health clinics across the Chinese mainland, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline said on Monday.

"Cervical cancer is a common form of malignant tumor that severely threatens the health of women. There are 100,000 new cases of cervical cancer in China each year, and over 30,000 deaths due to the disease," said Qiao Youlin, a top epidemiologist and member of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

"It is the third most common cancer among women aged 15 to 44," he added. "For this reason, cervical cancer vaccination, together with cervical cancer screening, will significantly reduce the incidence of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions, thus reducing the burden of this disease".

The vaccine is registered in 132 countries and regions, and more than 69 million doses have been provided to the global market, according to GSK.