WeChat, the social media app popular among Chinese speakers, is set to launch a new electronic ID system which will allow citizens in China to link the WeChat account to their official ID.
The government of Guangzhou, China started the pilot program last month. The program Is being extended to all mainland regions starting from January this year.
"There is no need to show physical ID cards when conducting commercial and industrial registrations as WeChat ID cards are sufficient," a staff member from Nansha administrative service center in Guangzhou told China Daily.
WeChat is a product of Chinese tech giant, Tencent. It recorded 980 million monthly active users in the quarter ending September 30, 2017.
The programme was co-developed by the research institute of the China Ministry of Public Security and the WeChat team, and supported by other government departments and banks, according to South China Morning Post.
There are two versions of the electronic cards. One is the “lightweight’ version, which proves the holder’s identity but can only be used for unofficial business. The other one, the “upgraded’ version, can be used in situations where stricter authentication is required, such as a business registration, according to China Daily.
The WeChat ID’s “high-security” mechanism is connected to a person’s face, fingerprint and the physical ID card chip, which makes it difficult to counterfeit. In addition, WeChat will delete the electronic ID information once the person logs into WeChat using another device.
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