BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- With an estimated 12,000 people in Beijing infected with HIV/AIDS, the municipal public health bureau says the disease has entered a new phase and is expected to spread faster.

    The bureau says there are 3,462 people who are officially registered as HIV carriers or AIDS sufferers in the capital city but the actual figure is likely to be three times that number due to people either not knowing they have the virus or have yet to seek medical attention.

    However, Doctor Lu Lianhe with Beijing Ditan Hospital, who specializes in AIDS treatment, said that the estimate of 12,000 was just "the tip of the iceberg".

    "Underneath the surface, the situation is far more terrible. Many people who are carrying the disease have not developed symptoms so they simply unaware they are infected," he said.

    Statistics revealed by the public health bureau on Thursday also show that among the reported cases, 686 are Beijing residents, 2,634 are people from other provinces and 142 are foreigners.

    Zhao Chunhui, vice director of the public health bureau, said that drug addicts accounted for 1,357 of the reported cases, 924 cases were transmitted through sexual intercourse, 535 by blood transmission, 46 from mother to infant and about 600 were untraceable.

    "The public health bureau plans to set up a HIV/AIDS monitoring network this year that will cover all groups," said Zhang, adding that the municipal government has set aside 500,000 yuan (about 62,500 US dollars) to provide free treatment for traceable AIDS patients.

    The municipal government also plans to build at least one AIDS prevention clinic in every one of the city's 18 districts and counties before the end of 2008.

    Although the municipal government has begun to provide free pre-marital health check-ups from this year, only 30 percent of newly-weds have actually gone to hospitals for the check-up. The Chinese government cancelled the compulsory pre-marital check-up in 2003.

    Last year, Beijing's health bureau ordered all hotels in Beijing to supply condoms in their guest rooms, but was snubbed by most of them. Only 60 hotels obeyed the requirement.

    China had 183,733 officially reported HIV/AIDS cases in 2006 but experts from the Ministry of Health estimate there are more likely 650,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in China.