The State Post Bureau of China (SPB) is to issue postage stamps with a blank tab on which pictures can be printed according to customers' requirements, starting Friday.
The China National Philatelic Corporation (CNPC) is entrusted by the SPB to provide the service of printing pictures on the blank tabs. These stamps cannot be sold on market, but can be used for mail.
Customized stamps have been popular in some developed countries and regions such as Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, said sources with the SPB, adding that the service in China would be directed at enterprises and public figures. Customized stamps are also made to mark international and national events.
During the World Stamp and Coin Exposition scheduled to be held in Beijing in September, the CNPC will customize stamps for visitors, said Zhu Ming, director of the Department of Personalized Stamp Services of the CNPC.
Customized stamps specially designed for the ongoing 35th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank will come out Friday.
(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2002)
