A significant majority of Chinese teenagers are quite conservative when it comes to pre-marital sex, a survey of 1,500 people from a district of Chongqing municipality has shown.

The latest poll surveyed the residents of Jiangbei district in the southwest municipality older than 15.

About 69 percent of those born during the 1990s were of the view that women should keep their virginity until they are married.

Fifty-two percent of those born in the 1980s and 56 percent of those born in the 1970s shared the same thoughts on the issue.

The survey was jointly conducted by the district local chronicles office and Southwest University's department of psychology.

Launched in 2007, the survey aims to study local residents' social psychological situation by soliciting their opinions on politics, occupation, marriage, family and interpersonal relations, said Jiang Chunbao, the district local chronicles office director.

About 60 percent of the respondents born in the 1990s were opposed to the idea of divorce on grounds of incompatibility, followed by 50 percent of those interviewed who were born in the 1960s.

About 43 percent of the respondents born in the 1990s thought that "family harmony is more important than personal interests".

"I do not support pre-marital sex and I think a couple should not get divorced just because they have faced some problems," said 19-year-old Li Xiaofei, a university freshman in Chongqing.

"People from my generation aren't as irresponsible and selfish as people think just because we have sharp personalities," Li said.

"This survey can probably shed some light on the misunderstood generation, even though it was conducted in a single district of a city," said Fan Fenghui, a professor at Southwest University.

"The teenagers' conservative way of thinking about what marriage is about can be attributed to the fact that Chongqing has a divorce rate of about 50 percent," Fan said.

Fan added that it is also possible that the youngsters may have idealized marriage, as they are too young to experience it.

(China Daily December 15, 2009)