BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) has launched its "Zero Discrimination" social media campaign in China this year, hoping to raise awareness of discrimination in the country.

Nicholas Rosellini, UN Resident Coordinator in China, is encouraging Chinese netizens to participate in the campaign, by using drawings, pictures, gifs, audio and video to show support for the campaign in his speech at a press conference organized by UNAIDS China.

"Everyone has the right to live a life free from discrimination regardless of HIV status, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, other personal characteristics or identification," Rosellini said.

Shen Jie, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of STD and AIDS Prevention and Control, called on governments, society and communities to "speak out for love" to help AIDS patients, especially children, to become braver and better embrace life.

China recorded a total of 747,000 people with HIV as of September 2017, according to the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of the end of June, about 542,000 HIV-positive people had received medical treatment and mortality was notably reduced.