BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's seventh national population census will begin on Nov. 1 this year with about 7 million staff to visit homes for registration work, an official said Sunday.

A good census can give a full picture of the population size, structure and distribution, and the trend of the demographic change, providing support for mapping national development strategies, said Ning Jizhe, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a ceremony held in Beijing to promote the national census.

Residents will be encouraged to use mobile terminals such as cell phones to declare personal and family information, he said.

The census will collect data including name, ID number, gender, marital details, education, profession and other information about Chinese citizens.

China conducts a national population census every 10 years. The last census in the world's most populous country found its population had increased to 1.37 billion.  ■