The survey, released yesterday by Beijing-based Mainland Marketing Research Company of China, was conducted in 31 cities across China among 12,500 residents aged between 18 to 69.

Also on the list of the top 10 concerns were education of youths, impact of the World Trade Organization, medicine prices and environmental control.

However, social security was listed by all age groups as their top worry. It was particularly high among young and middle-aged people with 72.4 percent registering concern.

At the same time, nearly 33 percent said they paid major attention to employment. About 51 percent of respondents were middle-aged people.

Gao Huiqing, senior expert with the department of economic forecasts under the State Information Center, said China's existing social security system fails to cover many of the unemployed, and needs to be strengthened to give them stronger support.

"Unemployment is looming, particularly in traditional industries, which are being phased out in the new round of economic restructuring," the expert said.

At a national conference for labour and social security which concluded on Wednesday, labour minister Zhang Zuoji announced that the country would strive to create 9.5 million jobs for the coming year and maintain the unemployment rate below 4.5 percent.

It is widely expected that the government will formulate more open policies to back small and medium-sized enterprises, which support the market for laborers.

The survey reveals that nearly 32.7 percent of respondents worried about medical reform and insurance - 10.8 percentage points higher than in a similar survey conducted by the company last year.

Following the abandonment of the country's decades-old free medical care system, all cities have implemented a new repayment system in which employers, employees and the governments share medical expenses.

It has also sparked worries among low-income people. For example, many employees from poorly managed enterprises cannot afford even basic medical services as their employers are unable to foot the bills.

(Edited from China Daily December 27, 2002)