Grand Challenges on HIV/AIDS in China - The 5th Symposium, Yunnan 2024.

HIV-1 infection has led to 1.329 million people living with the virus and 0.474 millions of deaths by the middle of 2024 in China. Achieving the goal of ending HIV/AIDS in China by 2030 has faced several grand challenges including currently having a diagnostic rate of less than 85%, an estimated annual cost burden of 6.3 billion RMB for antiretroviral therapy (ART) alone, and the lack of therapeutic cure and preventive vaccine and so on. To address these challenges, Chinese scientists initiated the programme of Grand Challenges on HIV/AIDS in China (GCC) in 2017. The inauguration symposium was held from 30 November to 1 December 2017 in Hong Kong - Asia's World City - to commemorate the 10th anniversary of AIDS Institute at The University of Hong Kong and Comprehensive AIDS Research Center at Tsinghua University. The mission of the GCC is to advance HIV/AIDS prevention, prioritize research on therapeutic cure and vaccine, disseminate new scientific findings, and foster broader collaborations. Following the inaugural event, subsequent symposia were held at Fudan University in 2018, Sun Yat-Sen University in 2019, Tsinghua University in 2023, and Dali University in 2024. This review reports the scientific presentations and progresses made by the GCC scientists, highlighting efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in China.