BEIJING, August 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Environmental degradation has become a top concern for most people, who also say that the performance of government officials should be evaluated by how well they have done to protect the environment, a recent nationwide survey found.

    The survey, conducted by the All-China Federation on Environmental Protection, showed that 94.9 percent of the people polled regarded environmental degradation a burning issue that must be tackled immediately.

    Although they differed on how to combat environmental degradation, as many as 45.7 percent of the people said that the trend must be reversed even at the cost of slowing down the country's economic development, according to the survey aimed at collecting public opinion for drafting the country's Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2006-2010)

    After enjoying high economic growth over the past two decades, China is facing increasingly heavy environmental pressure. Official figures indicate that 90 percent of the rivers flowing through cities in the country have been heavily polluted, and nearly 300 million people in rural areas do not have access to sanitary water.

    Meanwhile, nearly one-third of the urban population breathes heavily polluted air and acid rain has ravaged one-third of the country's land.

    The Chinese government has gradually increased spending on environmental protection over the past decades, with such spending accounting for 1.3 percent of the nation's gross domestic product in 2004.

    However, 96.6 percent of the people polled in the survey said that more should be spent on the environment in the next five years.

    And even a higher percentage of people, 97.5 percent, said that the promotion of government officials should take into account their efforts in protecting the environment.

    Priority should be given to resolving the issue of air pollution, said 80.5 percent of the respondents of the survey, and 91.8 percent of them blamed emission from auto vehicles for air pollution in urban areas.

    The issue of water safety closely followed that of air pollution, with as many as 64.4 percent of the people said that heavy taxes should be levied on water polluters.

    The survey showed that 97.2 percent of the respondents said that public opinion should be heard when the government makes decisions on environmental protection, and 92.9 of them showed willingness to be volunteers in environmental protection. Enditem