Counting Our People
From Nov. 1 to Dec. 10, 2020, if someone knocks at your door and wants to ask you some questions, don't be afraid. They are working on the seventh national population census. They will ask each family about their name, gender, age, education, and employment (职业).
China has a census about every 10 years. The first one was done in 1953. At that time, there were about 600 million people in China. It was about 1.37 billion in 2010, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS国家统计局).
For this year's census, China will send 7 million staff to visit families across the country. All residents (居民) of China will be included in the census. But Chinese citizens who have settled (定居) abroad and foreign citizens who are staying in China on either business or tourist visas (签证) will not be counted.
"The census is very important for every citizen," said Ning Jizhe, director of the NBS. "It will help improve infrastructure (基础建设) and public services." For example, if census results show that there are many children living in a particular area, the government will know that it should build more schools there.
Scientists can also learn more about population growth from the census. In some years, the population grows faster than in others. Even in the same year, population growth is different in different places. Scientists can use the information to figure out what causes growth in certain years and places.
