The AIDS victims include 18 patients and 731 HIV positive, according to Feng Liuxiang, deputy director-general of the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Public Health, Tuesday. In addition, one AIDS patient had died this year.

The number of AIDS patients and its virus carriers detected between January and October saw big growth from corresponding months of the previous year, Feng said.

And casual sex has been attributed by health experts to be one of the major reasons that have caused the rapid spread of AIDS in Guangdong Province, Feng said.

Other AIDS victims are believed to have been infected with the fatal disease through intravenous injections while using drugs as well as blood transfusions, Feng said.

This year's figure has helped bring Guangdong's total number of AIDS patients and HIV positive to 4,532 by the end of last month.

Of them, 162 have AIDS patients, 4,370 are HIV positive. And 49 AIDS patients have died.

Feng predicted that prosperous Guangdong Province, which borders Hong Kong and Macao would in fact have more than 30,000 HIV/Aids patients province-wide.

With Guangdong's opening drive continuing, the province's number of HIV/AIDS patients will continue to grow in the future, becoming a serious threat to the southern Chinese province, Feng said.

Guangdong officials will seek more international cooperation and overseas financial support in fighting HIV/AIDS in the coming years, Feng said.

(China Daily November 26, 2003)