Chinese have sex for the first time at an average age of 22.1 years, according to the 2007 Face of Global Sex report published on Tuesday by condom manufacturer Durex.

The global average age is 17.

Professor Gao Ersheng from the Shanghai Family Planning Institute said the mean age was about the same as that at which people in China get married, although incidents of premarital sex were on the rise.

"In urban China, the age at which people have their first sex is probably lower than 22," he said.

The Durex report surveyed more than 26,000 people from 26 countries and found the global average age for first-time sex had risen from under 16 to over 17 since last year.

The report found that while most respondents from Asian countries such as China, Singapore and Malaysia said they had their first sexual experience later than their peers in the West, they also said they were better prepared psychologically.

The report also showed that 81.5 percent of those polled had used a form of birth control. China ranked in the top 3 in this regard.

Women were found to be more likely to take precautions, as too were people with a higher educational background.

However, Gao said he believed no more than half of China's youth used condoms or other precautions during first-time sex.

"According to earlier national surveys, only a quarter of those having premarital sex for the first time used a condom," he told China Daily.

In recent years, there has been more attention paid to raising people's awareness of sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS, Gao said. This has led to the more widespread use of condoms in urban China, but there has been no obvious rise in rural areas.

"Many youngsters believe their sex partners won't have an STD," Gao said, "and abortion seems easy - you hear commercials for 'painless abortions' quite often."

But among China's high-risk groups, such as sex workers, the use of condoms has increased greatly, Gao said.

In another survey on sexual well-being by Durex this year, just 42 percent of Chinese people said they were completely satisfied with their sex life. The satisfaction rate is lower among women.

According to the report, Chinese have sex an average of 122 times a year - higher than the global average.

安全套生产商杜蕾丝本周二公布的2007年全球性观报告显示，中国人发生初次性行为的平均年龄为22.1岁。

全球平均年龄为17岁。

上海计划生育研究所的高尔升教授说，尽管中国婚前性行为的发生率不断上升，但初次性行为的平均年龄与结婚年龄仍然差不多。

他说：“在城市地区，人们初次性行为的年龄可能低于22岁。”

杜蕾丝公司对26个国家的2万6千多人进行了调查，结果发现，从去年开始，初次性行为的全球平均年龄已从16岁上升至17岁以上。

调查发现，中国、新加坡和马来西亚等亚洲国家的大多数受访者称他们的初次性经历比西方同龄人晚，但同时，他们的心理准备也更加充分。

另外，调查报告显示，81.5%的受访者采取了避孕措施。中国在这方面名列前三。

调查发现，女性及文化程度较高的人避孕意识更强。

然而，高教授认为，青少年发生初次性行为时使用安全套或采取其它避孕措施的人不到一半。

他在接受《中国日报》的采访时说：“据以前的一些全国性调查，仅有四分之一的人在初次婚前性行为时使用了安全套。”

高教授说，近些年来，社会越来越重视提高人们对艾滋病等性传播疾病的预防意识。在这一趋势的推动下，城镇地区安全套的使用越来越广泛，但农村地区还没有明显改观。

高教授说：“很多青少年相信他们的性伴侣不会有性疾病。而且他们认为堕胎也不是件难事--‘无痛人流’的广告到处都是。”

但据他介绍，在性工作者等“高危人群”中，安全套的使用却有大幅上升。

杜蕾丝今年所做的一项与性生活质量有关的调查中，仅有42%的中国人对他们的性生活十分满意。女性的满意度相对较低。

据调查报告，中国人的年平均性生活次数高于全球平均水平，为122次。