Most people in east China's Zhejiang Province are paying increasing attention to environmental protection, according to a recent survey conducted by the provincial association of science and technology.

The survey on people's scientific literacy in Zhejiang found that as high as 75.3 percent of the respondents took interest in scientific and technological information on environmental protection, ranking the first among various categories of scientific and technological information listed in the questionnaire.

It was followed by new developments in disaster prevention and control and in medical care, with 61 percent and 59.8 percent, respectively, of the respondents showing interest in such information.

An economic engine in eastern China, Zhejiang registered an annual GDP of more than one trillion yuan (US$123.3 billion) and a per-capita GDP of nearly US$3,000 last year. The province ranked the first across the nation in terms of per-capita disposable income.

However, its rapid economic growth has also negatively affected the environment. This has in turn enabled local people to become more aware of the urgency for environmental protection.

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2005)