ANHUI - A HIV-positive college graduate Monday lodged an appeal against a district court ruling that said a local education board in east China's Anhui Province did not unlawfully discriminate against him when it decided not to employ him upon knowing his HIV status.

The young man's lawsuit against the education board was the first HIV-related employment-discrimination case to reach a Chinese court.

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"I was not the first to be discriminated against for being HIV-positive and I certainly will not be the last. But I will continue to strive for the rights of China's over-740,000 HIV-positive people," said the man surnamed Wu after he lodged his appeal at the People's Intermediate Court of Anqing in Anqing City, Anhui.

Wu declined to give his full name out of fear of discrimination. The original trial was not open to the public and few people know that he has contracted the disease.

Wu said he had dreamed of becoming a teacher since childhood, hoping the job would allow him to help his impoverished family in rural Anhui.

He said he interned at a private primary school and that the children there had "adored" him.

After graduating from a college in Anqing and passing several interviews, Wu was about to realize his dream when the municipal education board decided not to employ him because he had failed the physical examination.

Wu said he did not know he was HIV-positive before the examination and that he has no idea how he contracted the disease.

Wu sued the bureau on October 13 for violating his right to a job and for HIV/AIDS-related discrimination.

The People's Court of Yingjiang District in Anqing City dismissed his claim in a ruling on November 12.

Wu's health condition disqualifies him from being a teacher, and the Anqing education board's decision to not employ him was lawful and consistent with the relevant regulations, the court said in its verdict.

"The ruling sets a dangerous precedent. Eventually, it will prevent all HIV-positive people from having a job," Fang Ping, Wu's lawyer, said.

The Anqing education board did not discriminate Wu and was merely abiding by the relevant regulations, Wei Guo, the board's lawyer, said.

"Only with the support of the legal system and the government can we curb discrimination against HIV-positive people. And it is that support that I'm striving for," Wu said.

"The case highlights the public's poor awareness of how the disease is transmitted. The discrimination resulted from ignorance and panic," Zhang Beichuan, a renowned Chinese AIDS expert, said.

"Wu has the support of all the experts and medical workers who specialize in AIDS in China. If Wu is a teacher, his students will not contract HIV from him because the virus is transmitted via birth, blood and sex," Zhang added.

"Do not be afraid of people who are HIV-positive. We can be teachers, and we can do many other jobs just like everybody else," Wu said in a public letter ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1.

"I beg of society, do not forsake us," he wrote.