In an effort to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS, Beijing has ordered all hotels to provide condoms in all bedrooms by the end of 2008.

The official Xinhua news agency announced Friday that Beijing has ordered all hotels to provide condoms in all bedrooms within the following year, in an effort to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Beijing health authorities said this week that the city had registered 973 new HIV/AIDS cases between January and October, up 54 percent compared to a year earlier, with needle sharing and unprotected sex as the main sources of transmission.

Xinhua reported that, at the end of October 2007, Beijing had registered 4,663 HIV/AIDS cases since 1985. Of these, 171 were foreigners, 964 locals and 3,524 from other regions in China.

In the first half of this year, China reported 18,543 new cases of residents living with HIV. This number is almost equal to the figure for the entire of 1996. There are also fears that more people may be infected with HIV but may not have been diagnosed due to ignorance, fear, poverty or other factors.

Condoms are currently available only in 133 hotels - 15,907 guest rooms - out of a total 700 hotels in Beijing, according to local government statistics, Xinhua reports. A state regulation on AIDS prevention and control urges that all public places designated by provincial or municipal governments provide condoms or condom vending machines.

While some hotels in Beijing already provide condoms, they are not available in all bedrooms. As Beijing hotels are not required to supply condoms free of charge, it is up to them to decide how much to charge, according to Xinhua.

As Beijing will host the Olympic Games in the summer of 2008, hotels in the city are certain to overflow with guests.