Madame President,

The Chinese delegation wishes to thank the Secretary-General for his report on this item.

HIV/AIDS has inflicted huge threats to the health of mankind. In many developing countries, the spread of HIV/AIDS has seriously affected their economic and social development. In 2001, the United Nations held a special GA session on this issue and adopted the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. In 2006, it was declared at the high-level UNGA meeting on HIV/AIDS that the universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support would be realized by 2010, which has reinforced the efforts of the national governments to implement the declaration of commitment. Over the past year, the international community has made vigorous efforts in many areas for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. However, the difficulties and challenges remain serious if we are to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. It is pivotal for the international community to increase input and make tireless efforts to implement the prevention measures and conduct treatment. The Chinese delegation wishes to present the following views on the basis of China's own conditions and experiences.

1. It is important to attach great importance to education for prevention. We should try to reduce pre-marriage sex and post-marriage multiple sex partners, and teach young people to keep chastity before marriage. This will help reduce the rate of changing sex partners and is one of the approaches to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. We hope that the international community will focus more on such education and fully implement the relevant measures.

2. It is essential to attach great importance to migrant population. Such population, with its special features, is a highly risky and vulnerable group for the spread of HIV/AIDS. Priority should be given to such group in prevention and treatment. The UN and relevant international agencies should pay more attention to prevention and treatment for migrant people, invest more and carry out practical and effective work in this regard.

3. It is necessary to strengthen information exchange and professional guidance. The relevant UN agencies have many specialists for prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. They have accumulated rich experiences. We hope that the United Nations and other international organizations will adopt more measures to support the work for prevention and treatment. It is desirable for the UN local offices to provide their host countries with technical guidance and show them successful practices in this field. This will help better combine international practices with local implementation.

Madame President,

In recent years, the Chinese government has adopted a number of proactive measures to fully implement HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Regulations and Action Plan for HIV/AIDS Containment, Prevention and Care in China (2006-2010). We have built a working mechanism led by the government and managed by the departments concerned with the participation of all social sectors. Governments at all levels are making vigorous efforts to enhance education and spread the knowledge of prevention and treatment, with a view to reaching the goal by 2010 of over 85% HIV/AIDS awareness in urban areas and 75% in rural areas among the age group of 15 to 49. At the same time, the Chinese government has earnestly implemented the policy of "Four Frees and One Care" to protect the legitimate rights and interests of patients according to law, fight against social discrimination and provide interventions such as condom promotion and methadone maintenance programs to high-risk population. Our goal is to enable such effective interventions to basically cover high-risk and migrant population by 2010.

We are clearly aware that though we have made enormous efforts, the spread of HIV/AIDS is yet to be curbed effectively. We still face many difficulties such as lack of financial and technical resources, and expensive medicine and diagnosis reagent. We hope that the international community will offer us more practical and effective support through various channels. The Chinese government is eager to see more effective results in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment with the support and assistance from the international community.

Thank you, Madame. President.