Life expectancy at birth has increased substantially across China as the main causes of fatalities in the country have changed over the past two decades, according to a new study published in the Lancet journal.

According to the study, which was financed by China National Science & Technology Pillar Program 2013 as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, life expectancy has increased by an average of eight years in China. While the Tibetan Autonomous region experienced an increase in life expectancy of up to 14 years, in Hebei province, the change was only by four years.

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Researchers analyzed medical and demographic data from China between 1990 and 2013 to reach their conclusions.

From 1990 to 2013, China experienced the second fastest annual rate of decline in the death of infants under five years old - from 59 deaths per thousand infants to just 13 per thousand. The researchers pinned this improvement on the changes in the main causes of death across the country.

"In most provinces, reductions in diarrhea, lower respiratory infections, and other infectious diseases have made important contributions towards this improved life expectancy. Other major drivers have been reductions in neonatal disorders, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and neoplasms," the study says. Besides the aforementioned, the researchers noted that road accident has become one of the main causes of death across the country.

During the period under review, the improvement in life expectancy for females generally overshadowed that of males. In Tibet in the 1990s, the average life expectancy for a female was about 57.4 years. However, in 2013, the average life expectancy for females in Tibet had increased to 72.4 years. Despite the increase, Tibet was recorded to have the lowest life expectancy for females nationwide in 2013.

The researchers blamed the differences in the improvement of life expectancy in various provinces on the wide gap between the rich and the poor as well as access to health care. They called for health policies to be localized in order for province-specific problems to be tackled effectively.

China's population is expected to peak in about two decades and many experts say the country may be faced with a national crisis due to its large percentage of senior citizens. Authorities have attempted to remedy this issue by easing the one-child policy. But thus far, critics have questioned the success of the move.

TagsChina Life Expectancy, China Infant Mortality, China Ageing Population