Abstract
Contemporary Chinese society provides several socially pre-constructed models of representations and practices that interact to produce tensions that must be managed, and values, behaviour and actions are subject to renegotiation: the first system arises from pluralist and dynamic Chinese tradition (local traditional discourse), the second is two-folded—one was inherited from the 1919 intellectual and reform movement in the historical context of the fall of the Empire and the first republican revolution (1911), the other was introduced by Marxist ideology and nurtured the project to construct a socialist society (official discourse); the third reflects the global model that is producing changes in China just as it is elsewhere (local global or ‘glocalised' discourse). Except the first model, the others are broad projects of modernization of the Chinese society as well. Arising from a background description which provides pointers to the theory, methodology and Chinese context, the following points are addressed : (1) sexual transmission of HIV in the context of an epidemic dynamics; (2) its situation within society and the position of sexual and social sub-groups (sex workers/potential clients, MSM, and migrants as potential bridge populations for HIV transmission), and (3) late 1980s development of studies on sexuality in the context of ‘sexual health' and ‘sexology'-oriented awareness as assessing a social inscription of sexualities as well. Therefore, acknowledging the social inscription of sexual transmission in the larger context of the social inscription of sexualities while sexual transmission is becoming the leading mode of HIV transmission, may contribute to reframe social inscription of sexualities and vice-versa, documenting the latter may contribute to reframe efforts for HIV/AIDS prevention and care.