There are 854,000 new cases of liver cancer worldwide each year, among which 466,000 cases are observed in China, accounting for 55% of all global cases. Liver cancer is the second and sixth global leading cause of cancer in men and women, respectively. There is a high degree of heterogeneity in the etiology, epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations and staging, molecular biological behavior, and therapeutic strategies of liver cancer, and this is evident in the fact that primary liver cancer in China is very different from cases seen in Europe and the United States. In China, liver cancer is most prevalent in Qidong of Jiangsu Province and Fusui of Guangxi Province. Comparatively, the incidence of liver cancer abroad is found to be relatively high in sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific Coast of Asia. The age of onset is mainly 40–49 years, and the ratio of male to female is 2–5:1. Viral hepatitis and/or alcohol consumption are the main pathogenic factors (accounting for 70–80% of cases), among which hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection plays a dominant role. Hepatobiliary diseases impart tremendous social and economic pressure to our country and will continue to increase for some time to come.