China's census runs into trouble

China has acknowledged it is experiencing problems in carrying out the current census of its huge population because of corruption.

Official Chinese media say a number of census takers in the central province of Anhui have been sacked for imposing illegal fees on farmers.

Chinese officials said the problem was widespread and almost impossible to control.

And in the central province of Hunan, newspaper reports say census officials have been unable to track down nearly ten-million people who, they say, should be living there.

The Chinese government has extended the census period by nearly a week to give more time to track down the missing population.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service