The public has a greater awareness and acceptance of recycled water than people in the United States and Singapore, results of a survey by US industrial conglomerate GE showed.

The survey saw 93 percent of respondents in China expressing a keen interest in the protection and preservation of water to assure supplies for the next generation. Of the 3,000 people interviewed in China, 74 percent agreed that water charges should be raised to discourage waste.

The majority of respondents in all three countries surveyed said that recycling could be effective in solving water shortage problems. But the percentage of supporters of recycling was highest in China, at 88 percent.

At a press briefing in Shanghai on Wednesday, Heiner Markhoff, president & CEO of GE Power & Water, said: "The rapid development of population growth, industrialization and urbanization in China will promote the requirements of recycling water."

The majority of Chinese respondents to the survey said they believed businesses, as well as individual citizens, shared responsibility in conserving water.