A recent survey on 14 major cities in China shows that as many as 21 percent of urban families had purchased computers by the end of 1999, a sharp increase from less than three percent in 1995.

The survey was jointly conducted by Beijing-based China Mainland Marketing Research Company and 13 research institutions coming across the country.

Statistics shows that approximately 980,000 computers were sold to private owners, and over 100,000 of these were notebooks.

Moreover, some 19.2 percent of those surveyed urban families plan to buy computers this year, 11.7 percent higher than the 1999 figure. And 3.2 percent intend to buy laptops this year.