According to a presentation by China’s top hepatologists and infectious disease experts at the “Proceedings of the Expert Seminar on “Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B”, the main risk factors for the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma are: (1) hypervirulence (high HBVDNA levels); (2) persistent positive HBeAg (e antigen); (3) high or repeatedly abnormal ALT ( (3) high or repeatedly abnormal ALT (glutamate aminotransferase) levels. In addition, alcoholism, co-infection with HCV, HDV or HIV were also included. Survey data also found that the incidence of cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B is approximately 3%, with a 5-year cumulative incidence of approximately 16%. Since: (1) persistent active hepatitis B virus is the culprit of high viremia, persistent positive HBeAg and elevated and recurrent abnormal ALT; (2) active hepatitis B virus is the key factor contributing to the development of chronic hepatitis B to cirrhosis and even liver cancer. Therefore, antiviral therapy is crucial to the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, whether it is to lower transaminases and restore liver function or to prevent the development of cirrhosis and liver cancer. I will talk about the antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis B in the next section.