Urban Chinese Mostly Upbeat, Survey Reports

BEIJING — More than 15% of China’s city dwellers believe their living standards have dropped in the last 10 years, and almost one-quarter of students are pessimistic about China’s political future, a survey published Wednesday showed.

But the official Outlook Weekly magazine said that the opinion poll, in which 4,244 residents of 42 cities took part, showed overall that China’s 200 million urban dwellers are “full of confidence” about the country’s future and support its reform program.

Asked whether their living standards had improved in the last 10 years, 54.2% of those surveyed said they are better off, while 21.2% reported no change and 15.8% said their living standards have deteriorated.

The survey gave no breakdown of the respondents’ background.

Asked how they felt about the future of China’s political climate, 23.6% of the students in the survey said they are pessimistic, and an equal number said they are optimistic.