The international society has promised to provide 2.2 billion yuan (US$268 million) to China for HIV/AIDS prevention and control, a Chinese health official said in Beijing Monday.

China has been coordinating with the UNAIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO) and countries like Britain and the United States in fighting against HIV/AIDS, said vice Health Minister Wang Longde.

So far, international bodies have promised to offer 2.2 billion yuan to assist China's HIV/AIDS control, including allocation of 256 million yuan in 2003 and another 421 million yuan in 2004, he said at a national tele-conference on HIV/AIDS prevention and control.

HIV/AIDS projects conducted by China and foreign organizations in China involved all Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, Wang said.

China's central government has increased input in HIV/AIDS prevention and control as well. The funds allocated so far this year reached 801 million yuan (US$97.7 million), Wang said.

Anti-retroviral treatment has been provided to 20,453 AIDS patients in China so far, Wang said, revealing that the government has reached agreements with foreign drug companies to import three kinds of anti-retroviral drugs at reduced prices.

(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2005)