Women in Shanghai are far more unwilling to cook than women in other major Chinese cities, a survey reveals.

Of 600 white collar women in major Chinese cities including Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou of Guangdong Province, nearly half the respondents in Beijing and Guangzhou said they did the cooking at home after work every day.

But the survey, conducted by Jiao Tong University's medical school, suggested that figure in Shanghai was less than five percent. Nearly 10 percent of the Shanghai women surveyed said they never cooked.

Most of the respondents were women aged between 25 and 40, earning a salary of at least 2,000 yuan (US$266).

The Shanghai women blamed pressure of work and the complexities of cooking for their unwillingness to enter the kitchen.

"I'm always totally exhausted after a day's work. Who wants to go to the trouble and do all these time and energy sapping chores like washing, cutting, cooking and cleaning after getting home?" said Huang Rong, a local bank manager.

She added she and her husband would rather eat casual dishes in small restaurants.

Huang is not alone. The survey suggests women in Shanghai dine at restaurants about 10 times on average per week, the highest of the three cities surveyed.

Women in Beijing would eat out seven times a week and Guangzhou women six times a week.

More than 60 percent of the women in Beijing and Guangzhou said they loved cooking but only 39 percent of the women in Shanghai showed any interest in cooking.

Cai Meiqin, the research team leader and vice dean of the medical school's nutrition department, said modern lifestyles take away interest in cooking.

"The survey is common sense as people in Shanghai suffer from higher work pressures," Cai said.