China has introduced its first ever electronic passport that contains microchipped information and is designed to foil forgers.
The electronic passport features an electronic data storage chip that contains personal data including given name, family name, personal numeric code, the document's term of validity, the issuing body, and citizenship.
"The adoption of electronic official passports complied with international trends and played an important role in in international travel for officials, said Huang Ping, director-general of the Department of Consular Affairs of China's Foreign Ministry, at a launch ceremony.
Besides this, it has also got new digital encryption and printing technologies and is designed to foil forgers.
The production of Chinese passports containing microchipped information began on Friday.