Public Security Ministry is considering rules that would combine both
parents' family names to prevent so much duplication, state news outlets
said. So few names by so many often sows confusion and must presumably
hamper police work. 'By adopting both parents' names, 1.28 million new
surnames will be added,' the Xinhua News Agency said."
New York Times, June 13, 2007
The Book of the Hundred Family names (百家姓), compiled during the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), listed 408 single-syllable surnames and 30 double-syllable surnames. The introduction of more than a million surnames would be something of a cultural revolution. I don't see it happening.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/world/asia/13briefs-names.html
