Objective@#We aimed to assess the features of notifiable
infectious diseases found commonly in foreign nationals in
China between 2004 and 2017 to improve
public health policy and responses for
infectious diseases.@*
Methods@#We performed a descriptive study of notifiable
infectious diseases among
foreigners reported from 2004 to 2017 in
China using data from the
Chinese National Notifiable
Infectious Disease Reporting System (NNIDRIS). Demographic, temporal-spatial distribution were described and analyzed.@*Results@#A total of 67,939 cases of 33 different
infectious diseases were reported among
foreigners. These
diseases were seen in 31 provinces of
China and originated from 146 countries of the world. The
infectious diseases with the highest
incidence number were
human immunodeficiency virus (
HIV) of 18,713 cases,
hepatitis B (6,461 cases),
hand, foot, and mouth disease (6,327 cases). Yunnan province had the highest number of notifiable
infectious diseases in
foreigners. There were different
trends of the major
infectious diseases among foreign cases seen in
China and varied among provinces.@*Conclusions@#This is the first description of the epidemiological characteristic of notifiable
infectious diseases among
foreigners in
China from 2004 to 2017. These data can be used to better inform policymakers about national
health priorities for
future research and control
strategies.