Yesterday morning, a result from the fifth national census stated that China had a total population of 1.29533 billion. Of them, 1.26583 are from the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and the in-service armymen, 6.78 million from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 440,000 people from Macao Special Administrative Region and 22.28 from Taiwan Province, Jinmen, Mazu and other islands in Fujian Province.

The fifth national census started in early 1998. The census preparation and registering countercheck are completed. The whole census will be ended in 2002...