Happy Chinese are unhappy with environment

CHINA WATCH Chinese people feel happy but not happy with their environment, according to an annual “comfort” survey conducted by a state-run Xiaokang Magazine.

The happiness index is 79.6 points – the highest, while the environment index stayed the lowest at 56.6.

Given the overwhelming media reports on pollution accidents in 2007, it’s no surprise respondents made environment the least satisfactory part of their life. More than 90% of respondents anticipate the pollution will be worse in a long term, and 98% of them show concern about environment. But the environmental awareness and participation index stood at 54.8 points, a bit up from 54.4 in 2006 and 46.7 in 2005, as the statistics showed in the Xiao Kang Magazine(Chinese link)

Xinhua says:

Respondents gave 56.6 out of 100 points to the environment index, making it the lowest graded of 11 indices. The happiness index has stayed the highest and the environment index the lowest for three years.

“The respondents are not satisfied with the environment mainly because of frequent problems of environmental pollution and awareness of the issue,” said, Guo Fang, editor of the magazine in charge of the survey.

Last year, 842 serious pollution accidents were reported, including 482 cases of water pollution and 232 cases of air pollution.