Census goes past mainland borders

BEIJING - Foreigners and people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will, for the first time, be included in China's national census starting on Nov 1.

According to a pilot census that kicked off in Beijing's two residential areas on Monday, information collected by the census will including name, age, nationality, reasons for coming to China, levels of education, profession, length of stay and place of residence in the last six months.

The last census was held a decade ago.