More than half a million Chinese now living with HIV/AIDS

BEIJING -- There were 654,000 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in China by the end of September, with 201,000 deaths, according to figures revealed on Wednesday.

Sexual transmission accounted for 94 percent of infections, said the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

More transmissions among the young, and senior males have been noted, according to the CDC.

From January to September, 2,321 students, aged between 15 to 24 tested positive for HIV/AIDS, 4.1 times over that of 2010. In addition, 13,000 men aged above 60 discovered they were carrying the virus, 3.6 times that of 2010, the CDC said.

About 96,000 new cases in total were reported in the first nine months.

In the same period, heterosexual sexual transmission accounted for 66.7 percent of all cases, and homosexual activities accounted for 27.5 percent of transmissions, said the CDC, adding that mother-to-child and intravenous drug infection rates were low.

In 2015, more than 32,000 men were reported to be infected with the virus through homosexual activities, the number was 7,675 in 2010.