Objective: To analyze the malaria situation and epidemic characteristics in 2013 in China, and provide evidence for implementing the National Malaria Elimination Program (NMEP).

Methods: The epidemiological data of malaria cases reported through the annual malaria statistics reporting system in 2013 were collected, and analyzed by using Microsoft Excel 2010 and ArcGIS 10.0.

Results: A total of 4128 malaria cases were reported from 605 counties of 31 Provinces/Municipalities/Autonomous Regions (P/M/A) in 2013, representing 51.9% increase compared with 2718 cases in 2012, and the annual incidence was 0.0305/10,000. The cases were mainly reported from Guangxi (30.3%, 1251/4128), Yunnan (14.0%, 576/4128), Jiangsu (8.3%, 341/4128), Sichuan (5.8%, 238/4128), and Zhejiang (5.0%, 208/4128). The laboratory confirmed cases took 99.0% (4087/4128) while the other 1.0% (41/4128) were clinically diagnosed. Among the laboratory confirmed cases, 22.8% (930/4087) were vivax malaria cases, 71.2% (2908/4087) were falciparum malaria cases, 1.2% (51/4087) were quartan malaria cases, 3.3% (133/4087) were ovale malaria cases, and 1.6% (65/4087) were mixed infection cases. A total of 48 (1.2%, 48/4128) indigenous cases were reported from 12 counties in 3 provinces including 10 counties of Yunnan, 1 county of Tibet, and 1 county of Anhui. The indigenous falciparum malaria cases were reported in Cangyuan (4), Ruili (1), and Yingjiang (1) of Yunnan Province. The incidence of indigenous cases between 1/10,000 and 10/10,000 was found only in Motuo County of Tibet. Out of the 4128 malaria cases, a proportion of 97.9% (4042/4128) were reported as the abroad-imported cases who distributed in 30 provinces, and the remaining 0.9% (38/4128) were domestically-mobile cases reported from 9 provinces. Totally 156 (37.8%, 156/4128) severe cases were reported from 16 provinces and 23 (0.6%, 23/4128) malaria deaths were from 14 provinces. The monitoring and evaluation result of "1-3-7" indicators demonstrated that the proportion of cases reported within 1 day and investigated within 3 days after diagnosis was 100.0% and 96.1%, respectively, and the number of malaria foci disposed within 7 days were 1678.

Conclusion: NMEP have yielded remarkable achievements in 2013, while the abroad-imported cases have increased significantly. The border areas of Yunnan and Motuo County of Tibet are still the key areas for malaria elimination in China. At the same time, domestically-mobile cases should be further managed.