"China, home to nearly one fourth of the world's population, is facing severe challenges in the fight against the deadly epidemic," said Piot, while visiting the southwestern province of Guizhou.

    By the end of 2005, China had recorded more than 140,000 people infected with HIV. Officials estimate that China has 650,000 people living with HIV, including some 75,000 AIDS patients.

    AIDS has for years been seen as a disease stemming from "immoral conduct" due to prejudice and lack of awareness. Meanwhile, children orphaned by AIDS often find it difficult to go to schools and get jobs.

    Piot, also Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, urged the Chinese government to take more measures to reduce sex-related violence, hatred towards homosexuals, and improve women's social status.

    China needs to launch more prevention programs to cover all the risk groups and provide medical treatment for those infected with HIV, he said.

    "To achieve the goal, the central government as well as the provincial governments need to increase their funding and also encourage more citizens, media, government agencies, and businesses to take part in the fight."

    China needs to encourage more HIV-positive people to participate in the awareness campaigns, as this has been proved to be very effective in Africa and some other Asian countries, he added.

    UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, said that worldwide 38.6 million people were living with HIV by the end of 2005. Over four million people became infected in 2005.

    AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized in 1981. In 2005 alone, it killed 2.8 million people. Enditem