Chinese citizens will be issued new, second-generation ID cards
with personal information contained in an embedded microchip,
starting from the end of 2004, announced the Ministry of Public
Security Thursday.
At a meeting on the pilot implementation of the new cards, Wu
Dongli, director of the ministry's security administration bureau,
said the new smart cards, unlike the current paper ones, can be
checked on computers.
Besides a digital anti-faking microchip, the new cards will be
covered with a special coating and printed with technology that
makes counterfeiting even more difficult.
"The two measures will basically end the phenomenon of ID card
counterfeiting," said Zhang Junli, director of the ministry's ID
card department.
The present ID cards consist of a laminated paper card featuring
personal information including a person's name, photo, birthday,
nationality and ID number. "It is relatively easy to counterfeit as
normally the cards can only be checked by eye, not by computers,"
said Zhang.
Trial programs will start in the first half of next year in some
of the big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and the southern city of
Shenzhen. The end of 2008 will conclude the replacement of old
paper cards throughout the country.
The cost of a new card will be 20 yuan (US$2.41) and 10 yuan
(US$1.20) for a temporary one. People who lose their ID cards will
be required to pay 40 yuan (US$4.82) for a new one.
Urban residents living on minimum social security allowances and
needy rural people will be exempt from the charge when replacing
the old one for the first time, said Wu.
Those who are living in poverty as a result of natural
disasters, accidents or disease will only pay half the charge, he
said.
Programs to upgrade the current population information
management system have been worked out in line with the process of
issuing the new cards. Shanghai, Shenzhen and Huzhou in east
China's Zhejiang
Province have completed renovation and software testing of the
system.
Meanwhile, a data base with over 20,000 rarely used Chinese
square characters is under construction to ensure smooth retrieval
of information in the new cards.
Over 1.3 billion ID cards have been issued by China's public
security bureaus across the country in the past 18 years. 900
million residents are currently holding the cards.
(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2003)