The Beijing Disease Control and Prevention Center reported 501 new HIV cases during the first five months of this year, an increase of 90 cases from the same period in 2008, the Xinhua News Agency reports.

According to the article, 221 of the cases were men who have sex with men (MSM), accounting for 44 percent of new HIV infections. Last year, MSM accounted for 29 percent of the Chinese capital’s new HIV cases. According to Deng Ying, director of the disease control center, the city is scaling up efforts to reach out to MSM and other high-risk groups.

Beijing has reported a total of 6,383 HIV/AIDS cases, of which 1,343 are locals, 4,722 are from other Chinese provinces and 247 are foreigners.

Overall, China has reported more than 290,000 HIV cases as of May 2009, of which more than 90,000 have received AIDS diagnoses. It’s estimated that 700,000 people are living with the virus in the country.