China standardises social security cards

China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has revealed that the issuance of standardised social security cards across the nation is in progress. It is expected that 600 million cards based on the same specifications will be in circulation by the end of this year.

Citizen’s Identification Numbers, issued by public security bureaux, will be used as the unique and lifetime social welfare identifier across the nation.

At the moment, social security cards are issued by provincial-level governments using different specifications and identifiers. In a highly mobile society where hundreds of millions of people move across provincial borders for employment, transfer of social security benefits between localities has been a headache for both insured citizens and the authorities.

As a result, many migrant workers living in the economically advanced Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta are not enjoying the social welfare benefits they are entitled to.

The new IC-based cards will also be able to store monetary value, enabling cardholders to pay their social insurance across the nation; while currently, they have to go back to their locality of residence to settle such accounts.

Under the Ministry’s plans, cardholders will be able to use their social security cards as debit cards in five years time. A circular on “embedding financial functions on social security cards” has been issued by the Ministry. It is expected that 800 million cards will be issued by 2015, covering around 60 per cent of the population.

---