On Thursday, the National Bureau of Statistics published results of its fourth sampling survey on the public's sense of security, which was conducted last November.

It said 90 percent of people surveyed felt "secure" or "basically secure," almost equal to those who did the previous year.

The survey, comprising nine questions, was conducted among 102,309 families in 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. One member of each family over 16 years of age was randomly selected, 57 percent of whom were male.

Concerning whether they felt secure about public order, 35 percent chose "secure," 56 percent said "basically secure" and 9 percent "not secure." Compared with 2003, those who chose "secure" increased 1.71 percent.

As to what most affected their sense of security, "crime" and "public disorder" ranked top, each selected by over 30 percent, slightly down on the previous year. Those who chose 'traffic accidents" accounted for 28 percent, up 3.65 percent, possibly reflecting increased numbers of private cars.

In regard to local public order, those who said it had "obviously improved" or was "worse than before" increased less than 1 percent compared to 2003; those who chose "same as before" dropped slightly.

On what social issues most concerned them, 19 percent chose "social morals," a drop of 1.28 percent from 2003 but still ranking first.

Other issues were successively: "employment and unemployment," "corruption," "education," "income and employment terms," "public order," "housing," "land requisition and relocation" and "environmental protection." Those who selected "education," "income and employment terms" and "environmental protection" all increased compared to 2003.

(China.org.cn by Wang Qian February 4, 2005)