The priority was followed by medical insurance, according to the survey, which was conducted by the Beijing-based China Mainland Marketing Research Company.

The 10,000-sample survey was conducted in 22 cities across the country towards the end of last year.

Other priority concerns of Chinese people were economic development, public order, anti-corruption, environmental protection, social security for the elderly, stable prices and education.

“Different age groups have different concerns,” said Zhou Jiang, the company’s general manager.

Results of the survey indicate that nearly 37 percent of the respondents surveyed aged between 15 and 19 were concerned about the deteriorating environment and more than 30 percent of respondents aged between 20 and 34 said that they keep an eye on economic development.

Nearly half of the survey respondents aged between 35 and 49 were concerned about the job situation, according to the survey.

(People’s Daily 02/27/2001)