Shanghai's top political advisers are alarmed over a city brain drain, particularly among educated young migrants, because of the high cost of housing.

The Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference said yesterday the city had lost at least 30 percent of its non-local young scientific and technology talent over the past two years because of the housing situation.

The results emerged after an investigation lasting for some months.

These people are believed to have left Shanghai for other cities because they could not afford to buy a house to settle down, nor could they handle the rent for a decent apartment, according to the investigation.

And more non-local young people were planning to quit their "Shanghai dream" for the same reason, city CPPCC members said.

Based on interviews and surveys, the members said about 14 percent of Shanghai's non-local young residents were now planning to leave the city because they believe rental levels and real estate prices are "unbearable."

About 2,000 young workers from different city companies and institutions responded to an accommodation survey.

Up to 77 percent of them are wed but only 46 percent of these married couples have a place of their own, including rented facilities, to live in as the only residents.

About 48 percent of the respondents, including some married couples, share houses with their parents.

Only 3 percent who have purchased apartments said they paid for the houses on their own. The others all received cash from their parents or even grandparents to buy homes.

About 81 percent of house-owning respondents said they paid their mortgage with a third of their monthly income. The percentage was somewhat higher for the rest.

"I am looking for an apartment in a suburban area because I am getting married but I need my parents to help me make the down-payment," said Zhang Panwang, 24, a white-collar worker from Anhui Province, who earns 10,000 yuan (US$1,465) monthly.

Zhang is typical of the group covered by the CPPCC investigation.

"If I can't find an ideal apartment in Shanghai, I'll return to work in Hefei (capital city of Anhui)," he said.

The CPPCC members warned that the brain drawn was endangering the city's long-term future and urged the local government to implement favorable housing policies to improve the situation.

Shen Yihua, a member of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and manager of a city shipping engineering company, said yesterday rental assistance was a good way to ease the brain drain.

He said 40 percent of his firm's young employees said they would find it acceptable, single or married, to settle down in a government-supported rental apartment.