People gather around lit candles in the shape of a ribbon to mark an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign in Kathmandu, Nepal, ahead of World AIDS Day, which fell on Thursday. World AIDS Day, observed Dec. 1 every year since 1988, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in China hit 654,000 by the end of September, with 201,000 deaths recorded. Shenzhen discovered 1,900 new HIV infections in the first 10 months of this year, up 3.8 percent from a year ago, according to this newspaper’s report Thursday.Xinhua