What’s trending?

“What’s it like to take a group photo of 1.4 billion people?” Weibo asks, as millions across the country await census-takers for the seventh census since 1953. As in 2000 and 2010, people will fill out a 50 item form that delves into household information including births, deaths, professions, residence changes and ethnicity. The survey will include Chinese nationals on temporary visas abroad as well as foreign nationals based in China for more than six months. The “group photo” of China will emerge over the coming year or two.

But also trending online are concerns about participants being scammed by fake census officials out to steal their personal information.

What’s the story?

Today marks the start of China’s seventh census collection period. Over the next two months, teachers and community workers will double as census-takers in a process made easier by the option of self-reporting some personal details on WeChat, China’s ubiquitous mobile app operated by Tencent. Census-takers will offer people a QR code to scan which will keep their manual workload down to a minimum. The National Bureau of Statistics is expected to release information from the census by 2022.

Changes in population size and structure have a major impact on national macroeconomic and other policies, and will be used in the building and upkeep of important infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. Census statistics are seen as crucial in formulating national policies as they tend to be more accurate than information provided by local authorities. Planners will be keen to use the census to investigate the extent of China’s declining birthrate for example, crosschecking findings against annual local government data.

What are people saying online?

Millions of Weibo users have read advice on how to distinguish genuine census officers from ID snatchers, informing them to check that certificates have been stamped at county level or above and not to speak loudly so as to keep their personal information confidential. If census officers ask specifics about income levels for example, people are advised to be suspicious and report them to their local community or village committees.

Despite these precautions Weibo comments about potential census fraudsters has trended online, “Cheats can turn their hand to literally any business.” People are advised to be savvy about checking the ID of census officers, some of whom have taken to Weibo themselves to make a case for patience and respect. “I sincerely hope that citizens improve their attitude. We also know that working overtime is very tiring in cold weather and want to go home early to rest.”

Urging fair treatment of state workers, some recall that grassroots community workers have been essential in bringing Covid-19 under control working night and day, and should be afforded respect in the form of strong civil participation.

Editor: Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@caixin.com)

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