Parents who have violated the one-child policy will pay less in fines if they take the initiative in confessing to authorities that they have more than one child, an official said.

Parents of 'hidden children' see way out

Ma Jiantang, director of the National Bureau of Statistics, said at an online forum at gov.cn Tuesday that the measure is aimed at improving the accuracy of the coming population census starting November 1 to 10.

Officials fear that some parents will avoid giving details of their "hidden children" in order to evade penalties.

Ma said parents who confess on their own initiative can obtain a household registration, or hukou, for their "hidden children," and will be asked to pay the fines, known as social fees, based on the lowest standard.

The fees will vary according to different couples' circumstances. According to Guangdong's Provincial Population and Family Planning Regulations, a couple with an annual income of 100,000 yuan ($15,003), and who live in a city where the average annual disposable income per capita reaches 20,000 yuan ($3,000), will have to pay up to 280,000 yuan ($42,010) in fines for their second child.

The payment will be halved if the couple confesses.

"It's good news for many families here. They can obtain a precious opportunity to give their children a hukou," Xiang Wu (not her real name), 24, from Maoming, South China's Guangdong Province, told the Global Times yesterday, adding that it is common for families in the region to have two or three children.

There is no specific figure on the size of the "hidden population," but some suggest it is significant.

"In 1990, the national census recorded 23 million births. But by the 2000 census, there were 26 million 10-year-old children, an increase of 3 million," Liang Zhongtang, a demographer and former member of the expert committee of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, told the Global Times earlier.

The budget for the census, held once every decade, is 8 billion yuan ($1.18 billion), and will be conducted by over 6 million census takers.

The census will officially start on November 1, 2010, and the results will be announced by the end of April, according to Ma.

Unlike the previous five population censuses, this one will include people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as foreigners living in China.

Ma stressed that the census takers and all related authorities must keep confidential all information received from people surveyed.

Data collected from the census is prohibited from being used for other purposes, nor can it be used as a reference to levy penalties.