The Chinese have sex much more often than the global average but are still too shy to talk about it with their partners, according to a recent survey by global condom maker Durex.

They had sex 122 times on average last year, compared to the worldwide figure of 103, according to the poll.

The Greeks, who made love 164 times, were the champions, followed by the Brazilians, 145 times. At the bottom of the list were the Japanese, who made love only 48 times last year on average.

Durex said it polled more than 26,000 people in 26 countries and regions on the Internet in July and August last year. It did not say how many Chinese were interviewed.

According to the survey, the Chinese are among the "shyest lovers in the world" because 44 percent do not tell their partners how they feel and what they like in bed.

That may explain why only about 24 percent said they often experience orgasm, half the global level.

Four in five Chinese couples said that they had sex every week, and 36 percent three times a week or more. But 70 percent said they were not satisfied and could do more.

But they spent a little less time in the process, 35 minutes each time, compared to the global average of 36 minutes.

The survey finds that masturbation is popular among the Chinese, with more than 84 percent saying they had done it sometimes, and 29 percent at least once a week.

More than 64 percent of Chinese interviewees said they often had sex massages in bed and 63 percent resorted to fantasies. About three in five said they often use sex toys.

They also had fewer sex partners. A Chinese man had an average of four partners and a woman, two, while the global figures are 13 and seven, according to the survey.

But some Chinese sexologists expressed doubts about the credibility of the survey.

"The frequency of a Chinese having sex a year, as suggested by the survey, is definitely too high," said Min Lefu, president of the Beijing Sex Education Society.

He said that pollsters may have focused more attention on Chinese living in the economically developed coastal areas and who can afford Internet access. "They are more open-minded in general about sex," he said.

But there is much difference in people's sexual habits between coastal areas and the inland, the cities and the countryside, and summer and winter. "All these elements should be taken into account," he noted.

He said that Durex should also explain how it reached the conclusions on some aspects of sex, such as masturbation and foreplay.

(China Daily October 10, 2007)