Mainland China has been conducting the national population census every 10 years since 1990, and there will be another this year, starting on the 1st November. It is said that
census-takers will visit each household (see China’s 6th national census to start on Nov. 1). While walking around in Beijing, it was interesting to see how important this census taking exercise would be. Posters and written notices were displayed around the city to alert the imminent census-taking. The pictures on the left show some of the posters on a wall next to the Lama Temple (Yonghegong) in Beijing. ‘Harmonious society’ continues to receive the main emphasis. It is also interesting to notice that in the first picture, while the Chinese statement reads “Population census constructs world city”, its English equivalent underneath has no reference to the ‘world city’.
For China, the importance of accurate data including census is needless to say, and I am sure many academics around the world who study China using census data would be eager to wait for its release.
