China ranked at the top in a Save the Children survey of 18 countries in reducing discrimination against and neglect of children, with more than 70 percent of Chinese saying they had seen an improvement.

The survey results, released on Tuesday, showed that 74 percent of Chinese thought things were getting better - the highest proportion out of all countries surveyed.

Other countries in the survey included the United States, India and the United Kingdom.

The survey also found that 77 percent of those who said they were affected by discrimination during childhood in China believed the situation in the country had improved - the highest level among the countries surveyed. India was second, with 61 percent, and Nigeria third at 55 percent.

Worldwide, almost 40 percent of adults said they were discriminated against as children because of gender, ethnicity, religion, disability or because of where they lived, according to the survey, which questioned 18,172 adults in the participating countries.

Nearly half of those surveyed in Asia said they faced discrimination as children. In China, the figure was 44 percent.

The survey was conducted for Save the Children between March 23 and April 14 by the international opinion research and consultancy GlobeScan. It was the largest survey of its kind to be undertaken by Save the Children, the world's leading independent organization advocating for children.

"Our experience working in 120 countries worldwide tells us that discrimination is increasingly the largest threat to the poorest children today," said Patrick Watt, global campaign and advocacy director at Save the Children International. "Discrimination is preventing some of the most vulnerable children from accessing lifesaving services."

Wang Le, deputy country director for China at Save the Children, said it is clear that the country has made great strides.

"We think it is true that children's situation in China for health, education and development opportunities has improved a lot in the past several decades," said Wang. "We are also glad to see the public feels there has been a significant improvement regarding discrimination against children."

However, Wang said that discrimination against children with disabilities in China may have been underestimated in the survey, because the public lacks awareness of unintended discrimination and there is a lack of exposure to children with disabilities, she said.

The organization said children with disabilities are among the most deprived groups in China and face particular challenges in access to and completion of a good education.

wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn