Hepatitis C infections have surged in China in the past few years, the Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

Those newly infected numbered more than 70,000 in 2006, but the number shot up to 131,849 last year, according to a report on the ministry's website.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is usually spread by contact with the blood of an infected person, sex with such a person or from mother to baby during childbirth.

As AIDS and HCV share similar infection channels and risk groups, the Chinese government is eying the use of current AIDS testing and prevention networks to curb the spread of HCV.

About 38 million Chinese were carrying HCV by the end of 2007, figures from the China Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control show.