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 there are likely three times that number who either don't know they have the virus or have yet to seek medical attention.

Statistics reveal by 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.

Drug addicts account 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 HIV/AIDS monitoring network this year, which will cover all groups.

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

China has 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.

(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2007)