China diagnosed 104,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS in 2014, media reported on January 16, highlighting growth in infections in the country despite a comparatively low overall rate. The figure was a 14 percent increase on the number of new cases diagnosed in 2013, the Beijing Times cited the country's health administration as saying.
Chinese state-run media said last month that half a million people - less than 0.04 percent of China's total population - were living with the disease or the virus, although hundreds of thousands more are thought to be undiagnosed.
Discrimination against those with the virus remains an issue at schools, hospitals, workplaces and other establishments across China, a factor that experts say hampers efforts to diagnose and treat it. The United Nations' anti-AIDS body does not carry 2013 statistics for China on its website, but said in a 2012 report that HIV/AIDs prevalence remains "low" in the country compared to global averages. It added that 39,000 cases were diagnosed in 2011.