asp.net - Text property of ListItem that created dynamically -

For the dropdown list ASP.net control I create several ListItem dynamically, and some list of this list is needed, two or three is near "Space". I try this:

  var li = new list item {text = "& amp; nbsp; & amp; nbsp; & amp; nbsp; +" item "};   
 But in the HTML rendered page, this text appears ==>  '& amp; nbsp; & amp; nbsp; and & nbsp; items'   
 What should I do?   
 
 
 Try decoding the first letter characters ...  
  li.Text = HttpUtility.HtmlDecode ("& amp; nbsp; & amp; nbsp; & amp; nbsp;") + "item";