International students make up over half of HIV cases among Wuhan entrants

International students accounted for more than half of the HIV infections identified among individuals entering China through the city of Wuhan over the past few years, although the number of cases remained low, according to customs data.

Public health officials analysed HIV cases detected among inbound long-term visa holders and “others” at the city’s ports of entry from 2018 to 2025.

In that period, 39,816 tests were carried out on incoming travellers at the Hubei International Travel Health Care Centre, which is operated by the customs authorities. The paper did not clarify whether both foreign and Chinese nationals were examined, or their relative proportions in the sample.

Under Chinese law, various categories of inbound travellers can be subject to health checks, including foreigners who plan to stay in the country for an extended period.

The authors said they chose to examine Wuhan as there was a lack of studies on inbound populations at inland ports, as previous studies had focused on coastal regions.

Of the tested population, 46 were positive for HIV, equating to a detection rate of around 11 cases per 10,000 tested people.