BEIJING — Around every nine in 10,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in China, a low rate compared to other countries, according to the National Health Commission (NHC).

Sexual intercourse is the main channel for contracting HIV in China, the health authority told a press release on Nov 23.

However, China has essentially prevented the spread of HIV through blood transfusions, with nearly zero cases of infection recorded through this channel and through using other blood products, the NHC added.

Wang Bin, an NHC official in charge of disease prevention and control, said that HIV transmission through injective drug use has also come under control, with reported cases of HIV contraction via drug injection in 2017 seeing a 44.5 percent decrease compared to 2012.

Meanwhile, the rate of mother-to-child transmission declined from 7.1 percent in 2012 to 4.9 percent in 2017, Wang added.

The NHC has been stepping up efforts in HIV testing and discovering HIV-infected people, said Wang, adding that a total of 200 million people in China had HIV tests last year, double that in 2012.

Some 80.4 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS in China received anti-virus treatment in 2017, with the treatment success rate standing at more than 90 percent, the official said.

Noting that HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment is still arduous, Wang said the NHC will strengthen efforts in warning and educating people at risk of contracting HIV, promoting one-stop services for testing, consultation, diagnosis and treatment, and mobilizing social forces, including enterprises, funding bodies, health organizations and volunteers, to participate in the fight against the disease.

According to a joint evaluation by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, UNAIDS and the World Health Organization, there are around 1.25 million people living with HIV/AIDS in China by the end of this year, and 80,000 newly-infected people every year.