http://www.boston.com/dailynews/163/world/China_to_issue_1_26_billion_hi:.shtml

China to issue 1.26 billion high-tech ID cards

By Associated Press, 6/12/2001 00:15

BEIJING (AP) China plans to issue new high-tech identification cards to its 1.26 billion people.

The plastic cards embedded with a microchip to store personal information will replace existing plastic-coated paper ID cards that are relatively easy to counterfeit, the official China Daily reported Tuesday.

The cards will likely be tested this year in a couple of cities and may be issued first for college students next year so they can use them to apply for bank loans, the newspaper said. China's Cabinet has ''basically approved'' the new ID system, it reported.

Issuing the new cards to all 1.26 billion Chinese will take up to five years, it said. Old ID cards will remain valid until the switch is complete, it said. The current cards have an ID number, and the holder's photograph, name, sex and birth date.

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001