The new insured letter and insured parcel categories replace the special registered letter and special registered parcel services.

An insured express service for either letters or parcels - which offers faster delivery - is also being introduced.

The changes mean that customers will be charged more for the insured service than they were for registered mail, postal officials said. The cost will be based on distance.

Also under the new regulations imposed by the State Postal Bureau, employee and student identification cards will no longer be accepted as proof of identity.

Only documents considered more authoritative, including residence permits for Hong Kong and Macao, which have passport-like status, will be checked before mail is handed over, said Hu Shiyun, spokesman for the city post office.

Moreover, under one of the 12 new regulations, when mail is lost or damaged, the postal bureau will pay only the "actual monetary loss" suffered by the customer - but that is capped, Hu said.

For example, if a letter had 10 yuan (US$1.20) in postage, the letter writer would only get 20 yuan in compensation. That's because compensation is limited to double the value of the postage.

Now, compensation is a set amount. It doesn't matter if what was sent had a value more than the set amount, postal officials said.

Also, postal customers will have the choice whether they want to purchase insurance for parcels sent by express service under the new rules.

Customers will be able to buy as much as 100,000 yuan in postal insurance, double what is now available.

Now, they are required to buy the insurance.

Other new regulations are meant to make the internal operations of the nation's post offices more efficient.

(eastday.com 02/23/2001)