Half of China's youth suffer from myopia, second only behind Japan, a Chinese ophthalmologist has warned.

China also has the largest myopic population in the world, with more than 300 million people wearing glasses to correct nearsightedness.

This accounts for nearly a quarter of the total population and is ten percent higher than the world average, according to Ge Jian, director of the renowned Ophthalmic Center at the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou.

Ge attributed the high rate of myopia to eyestrain caused by large amounts of schoolwork, excessive television viewing and playing computer games.

He also warned that 85 percent of prescription glasses in China were substandard because there are a lack of trained specialists in the field.

"In China, the public, doctors and optometrists are not well-trained in optics. Eye test results vary from hospital to hospital and optician to optician," Ge said, adding that the country urgently needs ophthalmologists.

(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2007)