The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has recruited the Chinese government as its partner in an AIDS prevention project, the Wall Street Journal reported. The partnership, set to be launched on Thursday, will target 12 major cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, as well as the island province of Hainan. It aims to identify people at high risk of contracting AIDS and give them the opportunity to attend counseling and testing centers. The US$35 billion Gates Foundation, run by the Microsoft cofounder and his wife, will put forward US$50 million with Beijing and add further funds of its own. In most cases, the foundation designs its own programs and launches them in partnership with non-profit organizations. However, Beijing's tight control of the non-profit sector meant this was not an option in China. There are only believed to be about 650,000 HIV-infected people in China, but the country is seen as vulnerable to a pandemic.