China will start a national sample investigation covering 1 percent population on Nov. 1, 2005, according to a State Council meeting held in Beijing on Thursday. Since the country's fifth census conducted in 2000, great changes have taken place in China's economic and social structure,said Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan at the meeting.

"It's of great importance to conduct a sample census under the new circumstances so as to know the new trends and characteristics of the Chinese population," he said.

The census is aimed at making clear of the population's total number, quality, structure and distribution, which is of great importance for working out the country's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) and properly handling relations between population and resources, the official said.

China's first investigation on labor forces will be conducted simultaneously with the census, Zeng said.

China has already successfully conducted two sample investigations covering 1 percent of the population in 1987 and 1995.

Source: Xinhua