China launches electronic passports

BEIJING - China has launched its first ever electronic passports that would contain information in microchips.

The adoption of electronic passports complies with international trends and plays an important role in international travel for officials, Huang Ping, director-general of the department of consular affairs of China’s foreign ministry, said at the launch ceremony in Shanghai Friday.

The passport features an electronic data storage chip that contains personal data including name, family name, personal numeric code, the document’s term of validity, the issuing agency and citizenship, China Daily reported.

The electronic passport looks the same as a non-electronic one, but it has new digital encryption and printing technologies and is designed to foil forgers, the ministry said.