HIV carriers will be able to take up teaching posts in Guangdong province from September 1, according to a recently revised regulation from the provincial education authority.

The Department of Education of Guangdong Province published the regulation on the physical conditions of applicants for teaching posts on April 16. It cut the items of disqualification from 22 to 15, removing the restrictions of being a teacher such as physical disabilities and AIDS.

AIDS will not be transmitted through social activities and contacts between family members, said Shao Yiming, an AIDS expert with Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. "The new standards are rational," he said.