What do Chinese parents want to give their children most? The answer is good education. A recent survey shows that one-third of the Chinese families begin to set up plans for their children's education even before the children are born, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

 

The survey was conducted by www.ezbama.com, a website opened for kids by HSBC and a renowned global surveying institute. About 1,000 families with medium or high incomes in Beijing, Shanghai and several other big Chinese cities took part in the survey.

 

In the survey, parents were asked about their life dreams, their educational plans for their children, their demand for educational knowledge and how they use this knowledge, as well as parents' financial preparation for their children's education.

 

Some of the information in the survey is quite revealing. The survey shows that all parents wish that their children can get the best education possible. 83% of the parents want to send their children to the best kindergartens or schools, and 70% of the parents want to send their children to study abroad if they can afford it.

 

Among parents who do make actual saving plans for their children's education, one-third of them begin to save money before the children are born or when their children are still infants. Parents who have an infant and parents whose children are going to enter college generally spend most on their children's educational. The phenomenon is even more obvious in Shanghai.

 

Parents' expectations entertained of their children also change with the times. As children grow up, such expectations become more practical. In the survey, 71% of the parents wish that their children can live a good life, while only 29% of the parents expect their children to become celebrities.

 

(Chinanews.cn May 17, 2007)