Security worries

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

Today, the new middle class and super rich do not want others to know much about their wealth.

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

Another reason for citizens' protective attitudes, say experts, relates to births that remain unregistered to avoid punishment under China's one-child family planning policy.

Xing Zhihong, deputy director of Beijing's population census, promised privacy will be protected. All the information gathered will be for research only and will be destroyed after the population statistics are compiled and released, he said.

China conducted its first census in 1953 and the latest will begin on Nov 1. However, Beijing is now conducting a one-month, door-to-door survey in preparation.

"The preliminary check is aimed at checking people's registration and living conditions. Questions about income and religious affiliation are not included," said Xing, who assured that enumerators have to sign a confidentiality agreement with each interviewee.

The census chief agreed with Wang that door-to-door surveys are difficult.

"It is harder to gather accurate information this time than the previous five national censuses," he said. "Especially in top-flight communities, not all residents are willing to reveal personal information."

Some of the people interviewed by China Daily said they are unwilling to answer questions because they do not feel safe opening the door to strangers.

"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 Tingting, 27, who has lived in Beijing for three years and rents an apartment with two other women. "At first I didn't want to open the door because I was home alone.

"I don't know what would happen if she wasn't a real census worker. News on the Internet said people pose as census takers to try and steal an individual's information."

Even though Wang was worried, she answered all the questions on the census form, including her name, ID card number, how many people live in the apartment, whether she owned or rented and when she moved in.

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

Foreigners, as well as people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, are included in the census for the first time. Most of the 30 or so who talked to China Daily reporters said they feel comfortable taking part because their native countries did similar checks.

Jeff Levinson, a 28-year-old American who has lived in China for more than three years, said as a foreigner he had to register with the police each time he renewed his visa.

"The government knows where I live, my passport number and how long I have been here," said the travel organizer. "As for privacy, assuming the questionnaire is similar to that in the United States, I will have no qualms about answering."