Domestic violence is on the rise in the country, a senior official of the All China Women's Federation (ACWF) warned yesterday.

"About 50,000 complaints were made to the federation in 2006, roughly 70 percent more than in the previous year," said Jiang Yue'e, the head of the ACWF's rights and interests department.

"The increase indicates that domestic violence is spreading wider; and at the same time, women's awareness of their rights and interests has improved with reinforced publicity," she said on the International Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women.