The sixth national census of Beijing kicked off at Haishengmingyuan Central Plaza of Dongcheng District over the weekend. Foreign nationals, as well as those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, are being included in the census for the first time, the Beijing News reported.

For this trial, the Dongwai and Wangjing communities have been selected as key living areas for foreigners. Foreigners are calculated on the basis of registered households, including family households and collective households. According to the Municipal Statistics Bureau, the details taken by this census include name, relationship with the householder, education, identity and profession.

"With China's continued opening up and the development of communication with the outside world, more foreigners are coming to live and work in China, especially in Beijing. That's why we have started to include foreigners in our national census," said a spokesman from the Municipal Statistics Bureau.

The trial census will end this Thursday.

(CRIENGLISH.com May 10, 2010)