Chinese Cities Mandate HIV Disclosure to Spouses, Sexual Partners

Chongqing became the latest Chinese municipality to require people living with HIV to inform their spouses and sexual partners of their status, following similar legislation in several provinces across the country.

The Chongqing AIDS Prevention and Treatment Regulations, approved yesterday by the municipal people's congress standing committee, will take effect on December 1, 2026. Under the rules, infected individuals must proactively disclose their infection or illness to their spouse, sexual partners, and the other party in a marriage registration application within a specified timeframe.

The regulations introduce a mechanism allowing medical institutions to notify partners on the patient's behalf if the infected person fails to do so, based on epidemiological investigation findings, while providing medical guidance to prevent transmission. The law also strictly prohibits public disclosure of infected individuals' personal information without consent, drawing a clear line between "notification to specific individuals" and "public disclosure to unspecified persons."

China's national AIDS Prevention and Treatment Regulations, in force since March 2006, already oblige people with HIV to inform their sexual partners. Several provinces have since enacted similar provisions. Guangxi's regulations, effective in 2013, require disclosure within one month of a positive diagnosis, with disease control authorities authorized to notify partners if the patient does not. Yunnan's 2021 rules and Guangdong's 2023 regulations contain comparable requirements, with Guangdong also mandating disclosure before marriage registration.

The Civil Code stipulates that a spouse with a major illness must inform the other party before marriage registration; failure to do so gives the other party the right to request annulment. China's maternal and child health care law includes AIDS among designated infectious diseases screened in premarital examinations.

Courts have applied these provisions. In a case published in the Supreme People's Court's case database, a Sichuan court annulled a marriage in September 2024 after a husband concealed his HIV-positive status before the wedding. In Shanghai, a court annulled a marriage in 2023 after a wife learned her husband had been diagnosed with AIDS in 2011 but had hidden it for years.