Chinese bristling at census -- china.org.cn

When census taker Wang Xinwei knocks on doors as part of her job, many Chinese, rather than foreigners, will refuse to even speak to her.

"I'm surprised that it's the Chinese who are not very cooperative," said the 21-year-old community worker who has been assigned a neighborhood in downtown Beijing.

Will Sameuls, 38, from the US, registers his information at a residents' committee in Beijing. [China Daily]

"Some Chinese residents in the neighborhood would rather do the census at registration centers than letting us come into their houses."

Wang is one of 6 million census takers nationwide who are helping register residents' information for the sixth national population census.

"Foreigners would answer my questions after I introduce myself as a census taker and some would even volunteer to help me contact their friends in the same community," she said.

But many Chinese would "slam the door in my face or refuse to open the door".

The scenario appears to have been caused by insufficient publicity about the census.

An online survey by China's major news website sina.com showed 47.4 percent of 8,237 participants said they don't have much knowledge about the census and nearly a third feel unsafe to let census takers in.

But a main reason appears to be an increased awareness of privacy, thanks partly to a growing middle-class.

Zhang Yi, a researcher for the Institute for Population and Labor Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing, said: "People no longer feel they should be managed. Instead, they believe they should be served by the government.

"That is why they say 'no' to census takers before they are convinced their privacy is protected."

The sizzling economic growth of the past decade - coupled with an increase of the private sector - has prompted a surge in the number of wealthy Chinese. These people are being increasingly protective of their wealth, especially since ownership of private properties was enshrined in the Constitution in 2004.

A report released by the CASS this year said China's middle class - who have an annual income of between 60,000-500,000 yuan ($8,811-$73,400) - accounts for 23 percent of the population of 1.3 billion. It is expected to hit 35 percent in 10 years.

Before the 1990s, when most people worked for the State companies - where employees knew each other's income - and when housing was allocated by the government, people did not feel they had much privacy to protect.

But now the new middle class and super rich people don't want others to know much about their wealth, Zhang said.

"Some people who live in up-market neighborhoods don't want to reveal details of their lives because they fear it is more of a check of their properties," Zhang said.

Another reason relates to births that go unregistered to avoid punishment under China's family planning laws, he said.

But Xing Zhihong, deputy director of Beijing's population census, promised privacy will be protected.

All information gathered will be for research and will be destroyed after the population statistics are compiled and released, he said.

Xing also said the survey will not be proof for punishment, promising to help register all births without punitive measures.

China conducted its first census in 1953. Beijing is conducting a one-month door-to-door preliminary survey, which is a prelude to the national census starting on Nov 1.

"The preliminary check in Beijing is aimed at checking people's registration and living conditions, and questions such as income and religious affiliation are not included," Xing said.

He said enumerators have to sign a confidentiality agreement with each person interviewed.

Xing also said it is more difficult to do door-to-door surveys. "It is harder to gather accurate information this time than the previous five national censuses.

"In top-flight communities especially, not all residents are willing to reveal personal information," he said.

Some people are not willing to answer the questions because they feel not safe to open the door for a stranger.

Wang Tingting, 27, who has lived in Beijing for three years, felt unsafe to give out personal information such as the ID card number to a census taker.

"I didn't get any notice from anybody before a stranger who claimed to be a census taker came to knock on my door," said Wang, who rents an apartment with other two women.

"At first I didn't want to open the door because I was alone at home, I don't know what would happen if she was not a real census worker.

"News on the Internet said that some people are trying to steal individual's information in name of a census taker."

Even though Wang was worried, she answered all the questions in the form provided, including her name, ID card number, how many persons are living in the house, whether she owned the house or rented, and when she moved in.

Xing said the government plans to hire local people to conduct the census within their neighborhoods to make community members more comfortable with the census.

Foreigners, as well as people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, are included for the first time, but most of the more than 30 foreigners interviewed by China Daily said they feel comfortable because their home countries did similar census.

Jeff Levinson, 28, from the United States who has been living in China for more than three years, said that as a foreigner, he had to register with the police each time he renewed his visa.

"So the government knows where I live, my passport number and how long I have been here," said Levinson, who works as a travel organizer.

"As for privacy, assuming the questionnaire is similar to that of the US I will have no qualms about answering the questions."

Eric Jou and Hu Haiyan contributed to the story.