Nearly 80 percent of Chinese residents believe that environmental protection should be a higher priority than economic development, a new survey says.

The survey, conducted by the Public Opinion Research Center under Shanghai Jiao Tong University, aimed to find out residents' attitudes toward the country's environmental protection and how they rate the government's performance. It was conducted among 3,400 residents from 34 cities through computer-aided telephone interviews in March and April.

Nearly half the respondents said the government should spend more on environmental protection. About 67 percent said they would like to improve the water environment through donations, taxes and increased water cost.

Overall satisfaction with the government's performance on the environment is not high. Over 60 percent of residents said government information about environmental protection is not transparent.