The number of drug addicts in China has dropped to 720,400, with nearly 65,000 rehabilitated in the past eight months.

More than 200,000 addicts went through compulsory rehabilitation in the first eight months and 94,700 remain in rehabilitation centers, according to the Ministry of Public Security. The drop of addiction is mainly because of the compulsory rehabilitation measures and strict checks on chemicals and narcotics, the ministry explained.

The National Narcotics Control Commission, the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs have set up a network that tightens controls on chemicals that can be easily made into drugs.

Chinese law enforcement agencies seized 117 tons of chemicals in the first eight months and stopped 576.6 tons of chemicals from being illegally exported from the country.

The government has opened 307 methadone clinics, covering two-thirds of China's 31 provinces and regions, to combat heroin addiction and reduce the spread of the AIDS virus by sharing needles. Methadone is a synthetic narcotic that is given to addicts who are trying to break their heroin habit.

About 40 percent of Chinese with the AIDS virus trace it to sharing needles for injecting heroin, according to official figures.

China had 785,000 drug addicts at the end of 2005, according to the National Narcotics Control Commission.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2006)