By the end of last year, the Chinese capital had reported a total of 444 HIV virus carriers since the first case was discovered in 1985, local medical department announced on January 12.

Sources with the Beijing Venereal Disease and the AIDS Prevention Center said that the number of AIDS cases in the Beijing has increased drastically since the 1980s.

The first AIDS patient in the city was reported in 1985, and 44 cases were reported in 1997, 99 in 1998 and 145 in 1999.

The number of venereal disease cases increased by 20 to 40 percent annually during the 1990s in Beijing, according to the sources.

Beijing has now spent some 10 million yuan (about 1.1 million U.S. dollars) for its AIDS prevention campaign and set up 37 AIDS-testing laboratories.

Sources say the city is expected to promulgate a series of laws and regulations to control this often fatal disease in the coming years.

They added that according to regulations, 80 percent of all urban residents are required to have some knowledge about AIDS, and 50 percent of all rural people should now be aware of the disease. (Xinhua)