GUANGZHOU - Violent crime has become a serious issue among high school students in the Pearl River Delta city of Foshan, an official survey has found.

The survey, conducted by the Foshan committee of the China Communist Youth League in June, suggested that up to 80 percent of crimes committed by high school students from 2007 to 2009 involved violence.

Moreover, the survey found that up to 81 percent of crimes committed by students involved robbery, aggravated assault and burglary.

The survey covered 2,014 students from 10 high schools and vocational institutes in Foshan.

In the most recent case, a student surnamed Liu was seriously injured after being attacked by a group of young people on last Friday.

Eight people, including two students, were involved in the incident, local police said, adding that the case is still under investigation.

The survey said high school students committed about 3 percent of juvenile crimes in Foshan from 2007 to 2009.

Guangdong province, which neighbors Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, has seen more juvenile crimes in recent years.

More than 43,000 juveniles have been sentenced for criminal cases in the past five years, accounting for nearly 11 percent of criminal offenders in the southern province, sources with the Guangdong Provincial High People's Court said.

To better cope with rising juvenile delinquency, provincial authorities have introduced a regulation banning confinement penalties for minor crimes. The new rule took effect on June 1.

Instead of giving heavy penalties, authorities will attach more importance to psychological correction and behavior modification for minor criminals, Chen said.

"The regulation will help reduce juvenile crime in the province," said Chen Bing, a judge at the Guangdong Provincial High People's Court.

From 2006 to 2009, courts in the province issued non-confinement penalties to only 9 percent of juvenile criminals, Chen said.

Chen also called for more information about the law to be provided to students, especially since up to 70 respondents in the Foshan survey said they received little legal education in school.

"Teachers seldom teach us about the Criminal Law," said Cui Jiangmei, a student at Foshan No 1 Middle School. "Instead, we often see violent scenes on TV. They have negative effects on our school life."

Chen said that under the current education system, school authorities attached too much importance to students' academic performance while neglecting their psychological development.

The survey's report also called for better promotion of the regulation restricting confinement penalties to encourage more minor offenders to return to school.

"If they (minor offenders) do not receive a new criminal record from a non-confinement penalty, their earlier criminal records could be removed by the courts," Chen said.