A woman in Shenzhen has been found to have genes highly similar to those found in the United States that are immune to HIV, Chinese-language newspapers reported Tuesday.

Due to the genetic differences between races, researchers are still yet to determine whether the genes of the Shenzhen woman are resistant to HIV.

She was the first to be found in China, the report said.

The woman's husband was diagnosed with HIV in 1994 and was hospitalized in Shenzhen's Donghu Hospital in July last year.

The woman, in her 40s, was exposed to HIV for nine years but remained uninfected.

The discovery was a cooperation result of Donghu Hospital and a medical institute from the University of Washington. The two institutions began cooperating a year ago and signed an agreement for further research Monday.

Researchers from the University of Washington said they had found about 100 people who were persistently exposed to HIV but remained uninfected among 10,000 homosexuals in the past 10 years in the United States.

The discovery could help develop medicines to prevent or cure HIV, the researchers said.

(Shenzhen Daily September 28, 2004)