China's major business newspaper, the Economic Daily, published an article Tuesday refuting rumors that the government might use the results of the 7th national population census as reference for levying property tax. 

The report cited the Statistics Law as saying that statistics collected during domestic censuses must not be used for purposes other than census. It can't be used as direct evidence for exerting administrative practices like penalties upon subjects of the census. 

The article also stressed that China has conducted many population censuses before, but property tax was not yet launched. "It shows there's no linkage between the two," noted the report. 

The Economic Daily published the article following some Chinese media's reports that the upcoming population census will provide statistical support for real estate taxation. 

A report from the Securities Daily cited Fu Yifu, an analyst under the Suning Financial Research Center as saying that the upcoming population census, unlike the previous ones, surveys not only domestic birth changes but also house conditions. This means that the results of the census is very likely to provide reference to imposing a property tax. 

The Economic Daily noted that China had registered house information as early as 2010, when it conducted the 6th population census, refuting what the analyst said about surveying house conditions for the first time.