BEIJING: About 287,000 people commit suicide each year in China, accounting for 3.6 percent of the country's annual deaths, according to official statistics.
 Seventy-five percent of suicide cases occur in rural areas, three times the number of suicides committed in cities, according to statistics posted on the website of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 
"China's suicide rate reflects a trend that is different from other countries," said an article posted on the website.
Females are about 25 percent more likely to commit suicide than males in China, while in developed countries, male suicide rates are three times higher than female suicide rates, according to the article.
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| Xian Xiyong, son of Li Jie'e, cries next to a police line after his mother jumped off a building and died at a demolition site of Yangji village in Guangzhou, Guangdong province May 10, 2012. Li Jie'e, a resident of Yangji village, jumped off a building and died after her house was demolished on March 21, local media reported. |
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| A Chinese woman cries next to her friend's body after he threw himself into a pond in an apparent suicide in Beijing June 14, 2004. |
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| Chinese rescuers try in vain to resuscitate a man who threw himself into a pond in an apparent suicide in Beijing June 14, 2004. |
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| Rescuers save a man who had intended to commit suicide by jumping into a river in Ruian, Zhejiang province February 11, 2008. The man had been out of danger after the rescue. |
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| Chinese worker Luo Changjiang from Sichuan province threatens to jump from a pedestrian crossing after he was heavily criticised by his department head at a local newspaper in Guangzhou, the capital of China's southern Guangdong province, December 7, 2002. |
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| Chinese worker Luo Changjiang from Sichuan province threatens to jump from a pedestrian crossing after he was heavily criticised by his department head at a local newspaper in Guangzhou, the capital of China's southern Guangdong province, December 7, 2002. |
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| A Chinese migrant worker tries to commit suicide on an overpass at a railway station in southwest China's Chongqing municipality February 28, 2005. The man, surnamed Liu, said he was cheated by a train ticket scalper. He was later rescued by firefighters. |
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| A Chinese migrant worker threatens to commit suicide on an overpass at a railway station in southwest China's Chongqing municipality February 28, 2005. The man, surnamed Liu, said he was cheated by a train ticket scalper. He was later rescued by firefighters. |
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| Police and rescue workers pull to safety a private construction company boss who had been planning to commit suicide by jumping from the sixth floor of a building in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on August 21, 2002. The man said he was thinking about killing himself because he was unable to pay his workers' wages. Picture taken August 21. |
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| A woman, 44, who is suffering from cancer but cannot afford medical costs, sits on a rooftop during a suicide attempt as a rescue worker stops her in Shenyang, capital of northeastern China's Liaoning province June 19, 2007. |
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| A little girl holds her uncle's arm as her mother tries to commit suicide on a rooftop at Yaojia town in Jianan, east China's Shandong Province October 11, 2006. |
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| A woman sits on an electricity pylon as she attempts to commit suicide in Zhengzhou, Henan province, March 7, 2008. The farmer, who had wanted to end her life due to a dispute over the ownership of land, finally came down an hour later after police intervened, local media reported. |
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| Firemen try to approach a naked woman sitting on a ledge under an eleventh floor window as she attempts to commit suicide at an apartment block in Hefei, Anhui province August 9, 2010. The woman who suffers from mental disorder and had a quarrel with her husband, fell onto an air cushion after jumping off the window and survived, local media reported. |
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| Firemen try to approach a naked woman sitting on a ledge under an eleventh floor window as she attempts to commit suicide at an apartment block in Hefei, Anhui province August 9, 2010. The woman who suffers from mental disorder and had a quarrel with her husband, fell onto an air cushion after jumping off the window and survived, local media reported. |
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| A man holds his two-year-old daughter out of an eighth floor window while a rescuer climbs towards them during a suicide attempt in Chengdu, Sichuan province, July 7, 2009. Rescuers managed to distract the man while another snatched the girl and brought her to safety. The man, who later tested positive for drugs, was arrested and taken into custody, according to China Daily. |
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| A 22-year-old woman in wedding gown is grabbed by Guo Zhongfan, a local community officer, as she attempts to kill herself by jumping out of a seven-storey residential building in Changchun, Jilin province May 17, 2011. |
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| A 22-year-old woman in a wedding gown is grabbed by Guo Zhongfan, a local community officer, as she attempts to kill herself by jumping out of a seven-storey residential building in Changchun, Jilin province May 17, 2011. |
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| A 22-year-old woman in a wedding gown is grabbed by Guo Zhongfan, a local community officer, as she attempts to kill herself by jumping out of a seven-storey residential building in Changchun, Jilin province May 17, 2011. |
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| A 22-year-old woman in a wedding gown sits on a windowsill before attempting to kill herself by jumping out of a seven-storey residential building in Changchun, Jilin province May 17, 2011. According to local media, the woman tried to commit suicide after her boyfriend of four years broke up with her, just as they were making plans to get married. The woman did not sustain any injuries during the incident. |
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| Rescuers and relatives stop a woman from committing suicide by jumping off a building in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province August 14, 2012. |
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| Rescuers and relatives stop a woman from committing suicide by jumping off a building in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province August 14, 2012. A joint survey conducted by the Chinese CDC and the Beijing-based Huilongguan Hospital ranks suicide as China's fifth leading cause of death overall and the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 34. 
About two million Chinese citizens attempt suicide each year, a figure which has increased by 60 percent over the past 50 years, according to the CDC.
The high-profile suicides of government officials and business tycoons have aroused public attention in recent years. At least eight government officials at various levels succeeded in committing suicide last year.
One of this year's most prominent cases was the death of Zhang Haizhong, director of Hanshan District of the city of Handan in north China's Hebei Province. Zhang was found dead in his office on July 10; his death was investigated and ruled as a suicide.
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