Related stories

Mainland, Hong Kong Co-Produce World's Best Chinese Films Traditional Chinese Medicine The Chinese Language Lavish Staging of Chinese Culture Books by the Yard

7.4 Percent Chinese Surnamed Li

Among every 100 Chinese people, 7.4 percent are surnamed Li, the most pervasively used family name in China, said a survey supported by China's National Natural Science Foundation.

Following Li were Wang and Zhang, the second and third most used surnames in China, accounting for 7.2 and 6.8 percent of the total population, the survey said.

The survey, conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and a Shenzhen based company named Dinchang, has investigated about 1,110 counties and cities covering nearly 296 million people using 4,100 distinct surnames.

China was the earliest country to use family names 5,000 years ago. Surnames in China have been passed down through paternity.