Longitudinal studies conducted in Western populations have shown that alcohol drinking varies with age throughout the life-course. Large nation-wide epidemiological surveys are needed to provide new evidence on the recent trends of drinking prevalence, and consumption level and drinking patterns among regular drinkers in China. Yet, the World Health Organisation (WHO) global status report on alcohol and health, based on recorded alcohol production and trade data, demonstrated a striking increase in per capita alcohol consumption in China between 19. The CHNS study, with around 9000 participants from nine provinces in each wave, showed that levels of alcohol intake and daily drinking in men increased during 1997–2000 but then remained steady until 2006.

Since 2007, there have been no reported nationwide studies on drinking patterns and trends in the general population in China. A recently published study explored the increasing trends of alcohol use from 2000 to 2014 using the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), but only focused on older adults aged 60 years or above in China. While several cross-sectional studies in China reported on drinking patterns during 1994–2007, and on drinking prevalence in 20, only one study has attempted to explore the trends of alcohol drinking in general population by using five survey waves from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) between 19. Moreover, heterogeneity in the geographical regions covered and definitions used makes it difficult to compare changes in alcohol consumption patterns across previous studies. Most published studies on alcohol drinking in Chinese populations tended to have small sample sizes, were conducted before 2010, or lacked detailed investigation of drinking patterns. Questions remain, however, about changes in patterns of alcohol drinking (e.g., drinking frequency, heavy episodic drinking, beverage types) in adult Chinese populations. Despite this, there have been dramatic increases in alcohol availability, production and per capita consumption in China over recent decades due to rapid economic development and urbanisation, which may lead to an increased burden of chronic diseases such as alcohol-related cancers and chronic liver disease, as well as accidents and injuries. Moreover, genetic factors may also play a role, as the unpleasant flushing response upon alcohol drinking due to a deficiency in metabolizing alcohol is common in Chinese populations. Also, social drinking is traditionally widely acceptable among men but not among women in China. While alcohol is traditionally used in festivals and celebration in China, it is also commonly used in the Chinese business world to maintain good relations, particularly by men. In China, the prevalence of alcohol drinking is lower than in many Western populations, particularly among women, which may reflect in part differences in cultural attitudes toward alcohol. Globally, alcohol is the seventh leading risk factor for poor health, accounting for 4.2% of total disability-adjusted life years and 5.2% of deaths in 2016. Those engaging in heavy drinking episodes tended to have multiple other health-related risk factors (e.g., regular smoking, low fruit intake, low physical activity and hypertension).

Alcohol intake involved primarily spirits, at both baseline and resurvey. 36%) areas, particularly among younger men born in the 1970s (41% vs. Among current regular drinkers, the proportion engaging in heavy episodic drinking (i.e., > 60 g/session) increased (30% baseline vs. 6%), particularly among older men, with more than half of ex-regular drinkers stopping for health reasons. 29% resurvey), while the proportion of ex-regular drinkers slightly increased (4% vs. Among men, the proportion of current regular drinkers slightly decreased at resurvey (33% baseline vs. In men, current regular drinking was more common in urban (38%) than in rural (29%) areas at baseline. At baseline, 33% of men drank alcohol at least weekly (i.e., current regular), compared to only 2% of women.

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