China is planning to issue new intelligent ID cards for its 1.3 billion people, and some citizens will be issued computer readable cards as early as March.

According to officials with the Ministry of Public Security, the new ID card will hopefully be an effective way of preventing rampant forging of old ID cards in use.

The new card contains a module that integrates a special chip containing information on the card holder.

The chip-module was jointly developed by the Institute of Microelectronics under elite Tsinghua University and Qinghua Tongfang Microelectronics Co. Ltd., a subsidiary controlled by Tsinghua University.

According to ministry officials, the thumbnail-sized module will make the new card greatly superior as information within the module can be read and processed by computer. This will greatly increase security because police can use a card processing machine to check if information in a new card matches a preset code stored in the machine.

The information stored in the chip includes digital data for management and anti-counterfeiting.

The new ID card, 85.6 mm by 54 mm, will be put into use in March in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Changsha, according to ministry officials.

The ministry expects that the nationwide replacement program will be fully completed by the end of 2008 when a total of 1 billion ID cards will be given out.

China started to issue ID cards since 1984 in light of a fledging market-oriented economy that required more traveling while it was still restricted by the household registration system set up in 1958.

The 1958 system specified where each Chinese person should live, normally where they were born. If they moved away, they lost rights to cheaper education and missed out on job opportunities.

The system is considered outdated as millions of Chinese have left their homes to find work in the past two decades of economic reform. Rural residents have moved to cities in large numbers to bolster their farming incomes but often left their children behind because of higher fees they would face at city schools.

The country therefore is preparing to change the system to allow free movement of population. However, a huge floating population poses risks of effective management and lends difficulties to maintain public security.

The use of the new ID card will enhance the ability of the government to manage population changes and movements while allowing freer migration, according to ministry officials. This will be beneficial for rural people who come to cities for work.

The new ID card is made of a new polyester plastic that is eco-friendly, recyclable and hard wearing said an official of the company that developed the material developer, Huaxin Plastic Industry Development Co. Ltd, based in east China's Jiangsu Province.

(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2004)