Researchers were still analysing the outcome of the initial trial before deciding whether further tests would be carried out, it said.

Kong Wei, the research team leader from Jilin University, told China Daily the initial results were "truly inspiring" although he said it was still too early to claim success.

The first phase tests began in March last year in southwestern China's Guangxi region, with 49 healthy men and women aged between 18-50 participating, the newspaper said.

The Ministry of Science and Technology said another 800 volunteers, including those from high-risk groups, would be needed for the second and third phases of the trial, the report added.

However, testing to ensure the vaccine's safety and effectiveness could take years.

China started its own research into an AIDS vaccine in 2003 and has already invested over 100 million yuan (12.5 million dollars) into projects for the treatment and prevention of the disease, China Daily said.

Around 650,000 people in China -- or 0.05 percent of its 1.3 billion population -- have the HIV virus, but the rate of infections is rising rapidly.

In 2006, 70,000 Chinese contracted the virus, according to official estimates, equivalent to 192 per day. The government and outside experts predict there could be 1.5 million cases by 2010.

Since the discovery at Bodega Chocolates, Angiano's employees have spent much of their time hovering over the tiny figure, praying and placing rose petals and candles around it.

"I was raised to believe in the Virgin Mary, but this still gives me the chills," Angiano said as she balanced the figure in her hand. "Everyone should see this."

Kitchen worker Cruz Jacinto was the first to spot the lump of melted chocolate when she began her shift Monday cleaning up drippings that had accumulated under a large vat of dark chocolate.

Chocolate drippings usually harden in thin, flat strips on wax paper, but Jacinto said she froze when she noticed the unusual shape of this cast-off: It looked just like the Virgin Mary on the prayer card she always carries in her pocket.

"When I come in, the first thing I do is look at the clock, but this time I didn't look at the clock. My eyes went directly to the chocolate," Jacinto said. "I thought, 'Am I the only one who can see this?' I picked it up and I felt emotion just come over me.

"For me, it was a sign," she said.

The chocolate, on display for most of the week in the front of the company gift shop, now rests in a plastic case in a back room. It is brought out for curious visitors.

The confection has a wide base and tapers gently toward a rounded top, giving the appearance of a female figure with her head tilted slightly to the right. The dark brown melting chocolate hardened into subtle layers that resemble the folds of a gown and a flowing veil.

A tiny white circle, about the size of a pencil eraser, sits in the upper center of the creation. Cruz said the white speck is the head of the Baby Jesus as he is held in Mary's folded arms.

The research shows that women's dreams:

Are increasingly about work;Have more emotion in them;

Are likely to last longer;

Are more often based on the home, and

Involve more characters, especially family members

Men's dreams:

Have more strangers;

More often involve cars, roads and violence;

Feature more sex with unknown partners, and

Are more often about work, concerning redundancy and financial security.

Psychologist and author of several books on dreams, Veronica Tonay, says the Swansea research confirms long-held suspicions that men and women dream differently.

She said,

"Most of us have heard that women are more comfortable with their emotional life than are men. There is actually an emotional problem called male Alexithymia which describes how difficult it is for many men to express their feelings in words. Women are raised in the world of emotion, and if self-esteem for them comes from relationships, then being able to express feelings is very important.

"But at work, expressing feelings can actually block success. These differences find their way into our dreams, where women experience more feelings than do men."

The concept of "his'n'hers" dreams comes as a new survey shows that more than a fifth of people in the UK have bad dreams at least once a week.

And the survey, commissioned by the Travelodge hotel chain, found jobs could be linked to bad dreams with nurses, accountants and IT workers more likely to have nightmares than anyone else.

The survey of 2,000 people using Travelodges found the most common dream was being chased or teeth dropping out, with falling being trapped or being injured also frequent themes.

Dreams have an infinite variety with one respondent recalling being chased by singer Cliff Richard in the street, a number dreamt of Catherine Zeta-Jones and one had a dream about being shouted at by TV presenter Davina McCall.

Psychological theorists speculate that dreams deal with immediate concerns in our lives, such as unfinished business from the day or concerns we are incapable of handling when awake.

Whatever their purpose, continuing research at Dr Blagrove's "sleep laboratory" at Swansea University shows negative dreams are far more common than positive ones. But he added, "Even happy people have more negative dreams than positive ones."