The number of HIV infection cases in China has grown nearly 30 percent so far this year, the Health Ministry said yesterday, warning the virus seems to be spreading from high-risk groups to the general public.

The reported number of cases at the end of October had risen to 183,733, about 28 percent up from 144,089 at the end of last year, the ministry said.

Of the reported cases diagnosed by government test centers, 40,667 had developed into AIDS.

Experts from the United Nations and the Chinese Health Ministry estimate about 650,000 people in China were carrying HIV at the end of last year, suggesting that many people were unaware they were infected.

"The rising reported figures of both HIV infections and AIDS patients indicate that the epidemic in China is still serious and the danger of the disease spreading further remains great," said Hao Yang, vice director of the ministry's Bureau of Disease Control.

He said 37 percent of HIV infections were caused by sharing contaminated needles for drug use and 28 percent resulted from unprotected sex.

But he noted that the rate of transmission through unprotected sex was increasing, with the infection rate in prostitutes rising from 0.02 percent in 1996 to 1 percent in 2005.

Surveys showed that only 38.7 percent of prostitutes used condoms and 50.8 percent of drug addicts shared needles.

Mass urbanization is the major reason for the spread of AIDS, noted Hao.

Up to the end of October this year, 12,464 people were officially known to have died of AIDS in China, the ministry said. It has estimated that around 25,000 people died of AIDS in 2005 alone.

Editor: Donald