Thursday - September 26

Survey: Concern about the environment increases

People in China are increasingly concerned about air and water pollution, food safety, corrupt officials and inflation, a new survey on Chinese attitudes shows.

The Pew Research Center interviewed 3,226 participants in person between March and April. They were asked to rate 17 topics as a "very big problem", "moderately big problem", "small problem", or "not a problem at all", or they could refuse to answer.

Respondents think positively of the country's economic situation, but 47 percent said that air pollution is a "very big problem" and 40 percent labeled water pollution a very big problem.

A majority of respondents - 53 percent -called corrupt officials are a very big problem and 27 percent thought corrupt business people are a very big problem.

Officials want more education on safe sex

More of China's young people are having premarital sex and family-planning officials want increased sexual health and contraception education, particularly among those aged 15 to 24.

As China reported at least 13 million abortions each year on the mainland, the latest reproductive health survey among China's young people showed more than 22 percent of 22,000 respondents reported having had premarital sex. Half of them took no contraceptive measures when they first had sex, according to the survey conducted by the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council.

Among females, 21.3 percent said they had an unwanted pregnancy, 91 percent of those sought abortions and nearly 19 percent of those who had abortions said they later had more, according to the survey.