Over 40 pct of teenagers get sex information on Internet

About 41 percent of Chinese teenagers surveyed said they get information about sex from the Internet, according to survey results released Wednesday.

The results, released at a seminar on teen sexual health education on "World Contraception Day," which fell on Wednesday, show that social networking sites and Internet forums are teens' favorite online sources for information about sex.

The survey shows that teenagers also receive information about sex from books, magazines and friends and at school.

There have been improvements in sexual health education for teenagers, but the coverage of such education remains limited and the accuracy of the information is not guaranteed, said Min Yuefu, an expert with the Beijing Academy of Educational Sciences.

According to statistics, China has the largest population of teenagers and young adults in the world, with some 180,000,000 citizens aged between 15 and 24.

The survey revealed that about 48 percent of these young people have had sexual experiences. Among them, only 49 percent used condoms in their first sexual experience.

Gao Cuiling, assistant representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) China, said that concerted efforts should be made by the government, enterprises, experts and schools to strengthen teen sexual health education.