People in China get most of their information about science and technology from television, according to a survey released on 30 April.

The results reveal that only a small number of Chinese find out about science from the Internet: just 7.4 per cent compared to 91 per cent who get information from television, and 44.9 per cent from books and magazines.

The low Internet score corresponds to a low but growing number of Internet users in China.

The number of people connected to the Internet grew from 94 million in 2004 to 110 million by the end of 2005 — eight per cent of the total population.

Released by the China Research Institute for Science Popularization, the survey involved 8,570 adults aged between 18 and 69.

It indicated that over half of Chinese people are interested in new scientific discoveries, particularly men and people with higher education.

There were no differences between those living in cities and rural areas.

The survey included data from the sixth national public scientific literacy survey, which was carried out in 2005.