In a first move toward building a nationwide electronic identification network, a company in East China has released the world's first chip containing a national electronic identity security system code, according to a document sent by the manufacturer to the Global Times on Tuesday.

Photo: chinanews.com

Released at Digital China Summit held in Fujian from Sunday to Tuesday, the chip is in trial production and will be released on the market "soon," according to a document sent to the Global Times by Newland, the Fujian Province-based manufacturer.

Users upload their national identity card information, then pass through facial recognition and certification by the public security ministry to get a unique quick response (QR) code based on the number on their card.

"The application is connected to the database of the public security ministry," a staff member of the company told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

"Information uploaded by users will be compared with that of the database to complete identification certification."

The chip was part of national electronic identification certification work that would "greatly benefit the public," Zuo Xiaodong, vice president of the China Information Security Research Institute, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

While convenience was important, protection of users' information should always be the first concern, Zuo said.

"Technologies should be further developed to find a way where identification certification can be realized without releasing people's personal information," he said.

The company has developed a new type of QR code using "compound code technology" that makes the code tamper-proof, according to the Newland document.

"The chip has adopted decoding technologies developed for years in China. It is competitive both in technology and cost," it said. 

"Our goal is to build a reliable connection between the public and data," Fujian Daily reported, citing a staff member of the company. 

"Once achieved, people don't have to carry their identity card no matter whether they take trains or planes, check in at hotels or make a purchase in drugstores."

The QR code-based identification should reduce the need for people to line up, complete forms and applications and have their pictures taken.

Implementation of the chip program needs government support and could be achieved only on the basis of orderly opening, interconnection and sharing of government data, chinanews.com reported, citing company CEO Wang Jing.