The poll by Horizon & Horizonkey was conducted among 3,276 people in 10 major cities. It indicated that 60.6 per cent of respondents were "pretty satisfied" with their lives, with 5.9 per cent saying that they were "very satisfied."

Only about one-third of those surveyed said they were "not satisfied" or "very unsatisfied" with their current conditions.

Further analysis of the survey showed that the prime sources of satisfaction for Chinese people included the nation's economic development, its international status, public security and the results of the on-going reform process.

China's economy has maintained its momentum for rapid development in this first year after the nation entered the World Trade Organization. The National Bureau of Statistics predicted earlier this week that the Chinese economy could grow by 8 per cent in 2002. Although Chinese people are confident when it comes to their individual economic situation, living conditions and income prospect in the future, respondents showed less consumer confidence and job satisfaction.

"Chinese people's worries about their own economic circumstances and low consumer confidence are directly related to a social security system that requires a lot of improvement and the severe employment situation," said the survey report. "Improvements in these fields have a special bearing on the poor and relatively less well-educated groups."

The results were backed up by another survey conducted by the Beijing-based China Mainland Marketing Research Company which claimed that 63.7 per cent of respondents in 31 cities said their lives have "greatly improved" or "somewhat improved" in the past five years.

"Compared with the national average, there are more people in western China who believe that they now lead a better life than five years ago," noted Zhou Jiang, the company's general manager.

China introduced a development initiative in its vast western regions in 2000, aiming to help these traditionally economically backward areas catch up with the booming coastal economy.

According to Zhou, the survey also found that young people, better-educated people, and those working as high-tech engineers, university teachers, doctors, middle or low level managers in governments and enterprises and private entrepreneurs witnessed the greatest improvements in their lives.

"Peace and contentment are still the dominant feeling among the Chinese," said the Horizon survey, citing that nearly 42 per cent reported that they are content with their lives, one percentage point higher than in 2001.

(China Daily January 2, 2003)