GRHL2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: There are 1031 participants passed quality control from 1104 participants, including 275 HBV clearance, 92 asymptomatic persistence infection (ASPI), 93 chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 188 HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis (DC), 214 HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and 169 healthy controls (HC). In the case–control study, one novel locus significantly associated with CHB (SNP: rs1264473, Gene: GRHL2, P = 1.57 × 10−6) and HCC (SNP: rs2833856, Gene: EVA1C, P = 1.62 × 10−6; SNP: rs4661093, Gene: ETV3, P = 2.26 × 10−6).