The results of two nationwide surveys on "sex civilisation" conducted in 1989-90 in 15 large cities are to be published before the end of the year. The publication, On the Sex of the Chinese People, marks a turning point in Chinese attitudes to the discussion of sex. Until the 1980s, any discussion of the subject (except the minimum necessary for official family planning policy) was regarded as hooliganism or a sign of mental disturbance. The first course of public lectures on sex was held in Shanghai in 1985. Shanghai-based Prof Liu Dalin, author of the report, told the news agency Xinhua, "The age of being mysterious and innocent about sex has passed."
China has almost 1000 researchers working in areas such as sex medicine, sex psychology, sociology, and sexually transmitted diseases. Sex-education classes are held in more than a quarter of the higher education colleges, and over 87% of students have enrolled or would like to enrol. Sex education in middle schools, introduced as an experiment in 1988 in 7000 schools, is shortly to be extended to all schools.