The Chinese government will foot the bill for those who voluntarily receive HIV/AIDS tests and consultations, said the Ministry of Health Wednesday.

According to a regulation made public Wednesday by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance, the Chinese people can receive free of charge, if they want, the ELISA and PA HIV tests, two preliminary tests for detecting HIV, and related consultations.

According to the regulation, the central government pay for the tests in the AIDS-stricken areas while the local governments in other areas pay themselves.

"This is to identify the most possible positive individuals, and thus control the spread of the disease," said a ministry official.

The Health Ministry estimates that China has 840,000 people infected with HIV. However, only 7.4 percent of them are registered and thus can be monitored.

With shared syringes remaining the number one killer, sexual transmission cases have soared in recent years. According to Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi, the disease has reached the turning point from high-risk population infection to universal epidemic.

Source: Xinhua