Beijing residents with more than one child will have their extra kids granted for local permanent residence despite its being a breach of China's family planning policy, said the city's authorities yesterday.
The capital city is expected to carry out its population census in November.
By the end of last year, Beijing had 17.55 million residents, including 5.09 million out-of-towners.
Overseas dwellers granted long-term residence in Beijing, including those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, will be included in the census that starts November 1, but their mobility won't be limited, said officials heading the census.
Those overseas residents will be required to offer personal data including name, gender, date of birth, reason to visit China's mainland and duration of stay, education background, personal identity and citizenship, said Gu Yanzhou, deputy director of the census leading office.
Applications for visa and temporary residence won't be affected during the eight-month-long census.
It means those foreigners will be considered as a major factor in future urban planning, said Zhang Yi, a research fellow with Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Meanwhile, people who stayed away from their permanent residence in Beijing must register both at their new places and their permanent ones.
To match people to their actual address, the census is expected to check 2.8 million to 3 million local buildings.
With a total budget of 290 million yuan (US$42 million), about 100,000 census takers are going to door-to-door in the first 10 days and the result will be released next July and August.
Beijing's census is part of the sixth nationwide population census. Involving 6 million census takers, the task clarifies China's mobile population - an estimated 200 million people.
In addition, 30 percent of urban residents are away from their permanent residence, according to Zhang.
Applications for local permanent residence for children previously excluded because of their parents' violation of the family planning policy or their being born out of wedlock are handled between May and September 30.