Eight percent of urban residents believe it is the most profitable way to buy a share or bond in the first quarter, up 2.9 percent and 1.8 percentage points, respectively, over last quarter and the same period of last year.

About 4.1 percent of residents acknowledge that shares are their major financial assets, 0.4 percent higher than the last quarter.

The survey also shows that 38.5 percent of urban residents think that depositing is the most reliable way, 1 percentage point down from that of the last quarter.

In the first two months, the saving accounts of RMB in all financial agencies totaled 1,013.6 billion yuan in China, 186.7 billion yuan more than the same period of last year, according to the survey.

Maintaining the fast growth rate, the sum of saving accounts rose by 18.3 percent at the end of February, compared with the same period of last year.

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2006)