Guiyang City, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, began Friday to test people employed in the service sector for the AIDS virus.

Shi Zuohong, director of the city's disease control center, said the check-up would cover approximately 20,000 people working in the fields of tourism, recreation, public bath houses and beauty parlors in the city.

Drug addicts, loiterers, idlers and other indecent people would also be checked for AIDS, Shi said.

The current check-up is expected to be completed by the end of the year and the move will be carried out annually in the future.

Those who are shown to be HIV positive will be prohibited from working in the service sector, Shi said.

Statistics from the city disease control center show that 79 AIDS patients had been reported in the city by the end of March this year and five of them died. Most of the HIV-infected victims were aged between 20 to 29.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2003)