The number of Chinese officially believed to be suffering from HIV/AIDS was re-estimated at 650,000, much lower than a 2003 estimate of 840,000, according to a joint assessment report on the country's AIDS situation released here on Wednesday.

The assessment was made by the Chinese Ministry of Health, Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS and the World Health Organization, and was announced at a press conference on the 2005 Update on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic and Response in China.

"The 2005 figure turned out to be lower than that of 2003, because the number of those who had contracted HIV/AIDS through illegal blood selling practices was actually overestimated in 2003," explained Wang Longde, vice-minister of health.

According to Wang, China conducted a national survey on HIV/AIDS infections through blood selling in 2004, and found out that the actual number of the people who contracted the disease through this channel was much lower than the original estimate in 2003.

According to the latest assessment, in China there are an estimated 75,000 people living with AIDS, an estimated 70,000 new HIV infections in 2005 and an estimated 25,000 AIDS deaths in 2005.

Wang said although the 2005 estimate of people living with HIV/AIDS in China is lower than the 2003 figure, there is no room for relief or complacency.

The latest national survey indicates that HIV/AIDS cases remain on the rise in China, and the epidemic is also spreading from high-risk groups to the general population. New HIV infections occur mainly due to drug injection and unprotected sexual contacts, said Wang.

(Source: Xinhua)