Hong Kong recorded 268 new HIV cases in 2004, up 17 percent from 2003, the government said on Tuesday.

The number of new cases was the highest annual total on record in the territory, the Department of Health said. Six of those who tested positive for HIV were pregnant women.

Sexual transmission continued to be the main mode of HIV infections in Hong Kong, accounting for 64 percent of the newly reported cases.

HIV infections contracted through injected drug use had increased to 21 cases in 2004, from 11 in 2003 and 10 in 2002.

Over 3,000 people are believed to have HIV or AIDS in Hong Kong, a city of nearly seven million people.

However, the number of AIDS cases reported dropped to 49 in 2004 from 56 in 2003, and was the lowest recorded since 1996, when the use of active antiretroviral treatments began, the government said.

It gave no other details.