Experts want sex education tackled by schools

Health experts are calling for sex education to be included in China's school curriculum, saying the lack of formal tuition, allied with misunderstandings and outdated ideas, is putting young people at risk of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

The topic has recently been at the center of a heated debate on Sina Weibo - China's version of Twitter - after campaigners condemned a sex education textbook that claimed premarital sex has a "tremendously negative psychological and physical impact on girls".

"Girls do not earn more love from boys by sacrificing their bodies, but rather are seen as 'degraded' by their 'conquerors'. As a result, premarital sex can cause women to lose love," according to the book, published by the 21st Century Group. Since 2004, about 2,000 copies have been issued to school libraries in Jiangxi province in Southeast China.