A growing number of gay men and lesbians on the Chinese mainland plan to come out within five years, according to a survey released by WorkForLGBT, a nonprofit business network that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Only 22 percent of gay men and 12 percent of lesbians don't intend to reveal their sexual orientation in the next five years, compared with 30 percent of gay men and 16 percent of lesbians last year, according to the 2016 China LGBT Community Life and Consumption Survey conducted by WorkForLGBT.

The survey polled nearly 17,000 people from the LGBT community from cities and rural regions on the Chinese mainland in August and September.