April Zhang, a 21-year-old student from Shanghai, reflects the fast-shifting attitudes of China's younger generations toward sex. She's confident to talk about a topic once taboo here and is well educated about the risks.

Zhang and her young contemporaries- though far from uniform in their views- are much more open in their attitudes to sex than their conservative parents and increasingly aware of the need for protection against sexually-transmitted diseases.

This sex-savvy generation is set to spur sharp growth of the country's condom market, a key driver behind a deal by Chinese investors to buy the world's no. 2 condom business for $600 million from Australia's Ansell Ltd.