The incidence of AIDS is still on the rise in China, according to a joint assessment report on the country's HIV/AIDS situation that released on Wednesday.

The number of new HIV/AIDS infections in China was about 70,000 in 2005, with 25,000 deaths reported across the country, according to the report. The report added that intravenous drug use and unprotected sex were the main causes of infection. 

China currently has about 650,000 people living with HIV/AIDS including about 75,000 AIDS patients.

The assessment was jointly released by the Ministry of Health, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, and the World Health Organization during the 2005 Update on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic and Response in China.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2006)