The significance of a census for the world's most populous country, which was officially launched on Sunday, can never be overstated.

The national census, conducted every 10 years in China since the 1990s, aims to find out the latest changes in the size, diversity and movement patterns of the population, thus laying a solid foundation for the government to draft policies in a scientific way on education, health, labor, elderly care and other services. How well this gigantic and complex project is accomplished will have an influence on the country's modernization and governance capabilities.

Now around 7 million community workers and volunteers are visiting homes across the country to collect data, ranging from name, gender, ID number to education and profession. It is every citizen's responsibility as well as legal obligation to provide such information as required by the census authorities, as the accuracy of the data will to an extent determine whether the government comes to the right conclusions in relation to many of the social and economic problems that have propped up in recent years — such as how quickly the population is aging and whether the national birth rate has risen as expected after the family planning policy was relaxed four years ago. This also paves the way for any policy adjustments if needed.

The introduction of digital devices such as smartphones and technologies such as big data will undoubtedly facilitate the information compiling process. Yet some worry about leaking of their personal information; others show concerns about the possible use of such information against their interests, such as the government levying a property tax based on the number of properties owned. Such worries, if not properly addressed, could restrain many interviewees from cooperating fully with census workers, thus affecting the accuracy of the information gathering and policies devised on that basis.

The authorities have sought to reassure the public that all personal data collected will be kept strictly confidential and be for the purpose of the census only. "Unauthorized disclosure of personal information is strictly prohibited," as Li Xiaochao, deputy head of the National Bureau of Statistics, said. The draft personal information protection law, which was reviewed by lawmakers last month, is also meant to ease people's concerns over their privacy leaks by promising severe punishments for violators.

The census is a keystone for China to realize its social and economic goals set in its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), even the development objectives set through 2035. It is therefore essential that everyone be counted.