A new survey reports that only 20 percent of gay men in China's southern boomtown of Shenzhen _ a popular place for homosexuals _ use condoms every time they have sex, a Hong Kong newspaper said Monday (May 23rd).

The survey polled 220 gay men and was conducted by the city's Disease Prevention and Control Center, the South China Morning Post reported.

The paper said the survey reported that one-third of the respondents said they never or seldom used a condom, and 74 percent claimed they had sex with strangers.

The study also said that 55 percent said they thought they would never, or most probably never, catch HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, the paper said.

Almost half of those surveyed said they slept with women occasionally, the paper reported.

Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong, has become a popular city for gays because of its affluence, strong job market and relatively tolerant attitude toward homosexuality.

The paper quoted a Shenzhen health official, Cai Wende, as saying that Shenzhen's gay male population totals 100,000.

A survey by China's Center for Disease Prevention and Control reported last year that the nation's gay community numbered 5 million to 10 million, but some experts estimate it could be 20 million, the paper said.

Editor: Wing