Apparently, China's entry into the
World Trade Organization won't only
help goods and services enter and leave the country, it will help
people too, thanks to a series of new policies that make getting
and renewing a passport much easier.
The new system, which will be run on a trial basis in Shanghai and
Guangdong Province's Zhuhai and Shunde cities, means applicants
will no longer need their employers' permission, or a letter of
invitation from abroad to get a passport.
When new regulations go into effect in six months, citizens in
Shanghai will be able to apply for a passport by taking their
identification card and residence registration form to one of four
selected post offices in town, ending a complex system that made
getting a passport a bureaucratic nightmare.
Shanghai local officials are currently setting up the
infrastructure to make the new system work, tying together the
city's three population databases and linking them to the relevant
post offices.
Police said the change will allow them to produce 1 million
passports a year, up from the current level of 400,000.
People looking to renew outdated passports will also have an easier
time.
"Those people can go to the four trial postal offices to get their
passports renewed," said Ma Zhendong, director of Shanghai
Exit-Entry Administration Office.
In
the future, residents will be allowed to apply for passports
online, police say.
(eastday.com December 13,
2001)