Most school-age Chinese confident in more opportunities within 15 years: survey

BEIJING -- A total of 89.8 percent of school-age Chinese children believe China will offer them more opportunities for self-development in the next 15 years, the China Youth Daily reported on Thursday, citing a survey polling 7,881 school-age respondents on their future prospects.

Respondents averaged 9.9 years of age, roughly 90 percent were primary school students and 9.6 percent were junior high school students, and 23.3 percent resided in first-tier cities including Beijing and Shanghai while 19.6 percent resided in rural areas.

On a scale of one to 10, roughly 80 percent of respondents gave their confidence in China's capability to basically achieve socialist modernization by 2035 a rating of 10, according to the results of the survey.

"Compared with previous generations, Chinese children born after 2000 grow up with better material and cultural well-being. Therefore, they have a stronger sense of identity in community, society and the country they live in," said Sun Hongyan, director of the childhood research institute at the China Youth and Children Research Center.