BEIJING -?China's infant and child mortality rates dropped significantly in the past five years with marked regional differences, official data showed Thursday.

About 8.1 per thousand infants (those under 12 months old) died in 2015, down from 13.1 in 2010, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The child (those under five years) mortality rate stood at 10.7 per thousand in 2015, down from 16.4 in 2010.

However, in both categories there is marked difference between urban areas and rural areas, with rural areas having more than double the mortality rates of urban areas.

Meanwhile, the infant and child mortality showed a significant gap between the developed eastern regions and the less developed western regions, the research said.

China aims to reduce the infant and child mortality rates to below ten per thousand and 13 per thousand, respectively, by the end of 2020.