The number of spouses infected with HIV by their partners is increasing on the Chinese mainland, and most of those infected by spouses are females, a new report has revealed.

"The report will help devise better intervention methods to curb rising HIV transmissions within married couples and significantly reduce new infections," said Liu Kangmai, deputy director of the National Center for AIDS/STD Prevention and Control (NCAIDS).

Released on Friday, the report by NCAIDS, UN Women and UNAIDS was based on a 2011 study conducted in six cities and counties in Yunnan, Henan, Sichuan, Guangxi and Chongqing. It surveyed more than 770 couples where one party was HIV positive.