The China Family Planning Association (CFPA) has established a peer education body to educate young people about reproductive health.

"It is not an easy job to hold educational programs on reproductive health among the country's 300 million adolescents, though the relevant knowledge and skills are not very difficult," said Yang Yuchang, deputy director of the CFPA, on Friday.

The new body, known as the Adolescent Reproductive Health Peer Education Society, has proved to be an efficient way to inform the underage about sex by people with similar backgrounds, life experiences and interests, Yang said.

According to the official, the CFPA began studies on the issue in the 1980s, and it has trained a large number of volunteers who can help teach adolescents about reproductive health.

In 1998, the association began pilot research programs on the issue,and two years later an international education program called Adolescent Reproductive Health was launched in 14 provincial capitals and cities with provincial financial powers.

Currently, adolescent reproductive health programs are being extended from the big cities and developed areas to small towns, and rural and remote areas.

Reproduction education has also been carried out among youths who have left school, so the programs reach beyond the school campus, Yang said.

The CFPA has decided to adopt an educational structure that appeals to youths, such as music, song, dance and drama, in a nationwide performance tour with the theme "Youth, Health and Responsibility," according to the official.