Less than 9 percent of local residents in East China's Jiangsu province exercise voluntarily and 15.9 percent do not exercise enough, a survey conducted by the provincial center for disease control and prevention showed.

The survey found that 6.2 percent of Jiangsu residents participate in high intensity exercise, but for just 1.57 minutes per day on average.

It also found that local residents with better educational backgrounds generally exercise less.

A report issued by China's Ministry of Health recently showed that more than 80 percent of Chinese adults never exercise.

Only 11.9 percent exercise more than three times a week, with each time lasting at least 10 minutes.

Chinese people on average spend 4.6 hours sitting still, either reading, watching TV or using computers, the report said.