6 million in census pool
An army of six million census workers will fan out across the mainland next month to count the world's largest population.
The State Council census office has recruited five million workers and one million supervisors according to Communist Party guidelines.
The recruits come from diverse backgrounds, including workers from state-owned enterprises, village cadres, teachers and other volunteers.
All the workers needed to be 'highly cultured, possessing correct ideological thinking, trusted by the masses, hard working and physically healthy', Xinhua reported yesterday.
'Census workers must have responsible attitudes, be serious about acting according to regulations in registering data, and input only accurate and truthful data,' the official news agency quoted an official from the census office as saying.
The 10-day census will begin on November 1. During that period, census workers will visit about 350 million households.
This will be China's fifth national census but the first in which census workers will be equipped with computing devices.
The census follows a 20-day inspection by police in many major cities. Two months ago, 70,000 police and volunteers were sent to Beijing's 18 districts to check residence permits.
The inspection was described in the official media as a measure to ensure that those living in the municipality were validly registered, to ensure accurate census counts.
During that period, signs were posted throughout Beijing asking residents to help inspectors by staying home rather than taking summer holidays elsewhere.
