The infection rate of hepatitis B among children under 5 years old in China declined to 0.32 percent by the end of last year, a thirtyfold decrease since 1992, China's health authority said on Thursday.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission said the drop is due to effective vaccine measures that have been carried out in past decades.

"Receiving a vaccination is the most economic and effective way to prevent hepatitis B, and it has played a key role in the decline of the infection rate among children in China over the past years," said Lei Zhenglong, deputy chief of disease prevention and control at the commission.