Child discrimination in China might soon become a thing of the past.

This, after the country ranked first in a survey commissioned by the Save the Children among 18 countries who have been working to address discrimination and neglect among children, China Daily reported.

According the survey results which were released on Tuesday, 74 percent of the Chinese population noted that "things were getting better" for the nation's children.

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This was the highest rating given by respondents among the countries covered by the survey, which included the United States, India and United Kingdom.

Moreover, the survey also revealed that 77 percent of the Chinese population who were victims themselves felt that the fight against child discrimination in China had improved, the highest among the nations surveyed.

India came in second, with 61 percent, and Nigeria at third with 55 percent.

The survey results also disclosed that 40 percent of adults who were discriminated against as children was because of their gender, ethnicity, religion, disability or location.

Almost half of the respondents said that they were affected by discrimination as children, with 44 percent of the Chinese claiming they were also victims.

The survey, which was conducted last Mar. 23 and Apr. 14 by international opinion firm GlobeScan for Save the Children, questioned 18,172 adults in the 18 participating countries.

"Our experience working in 120 countries worldwide tells us that discrimination is increasingly the largest threat to the poorest children today," explained 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." Watt added.

For his part, Wang Le, deputy country director for China at Save the Children, said it is clear that the country has made great strides in confronting the issue affecting most children worldwide.

"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, highlighting the inroads achieved by the Chinese government in addressing child discrimination in China.  

Tagschina, Child Discrimination, Save the Children Foundation