Law of the People's Republic of China on Resident Identity Cards (Amended in 2011)
Law of the People's Republic of China on Resident Identity Cards (Amended in 2011)
Law of the People's Republic of China on Resident Identity Cards (Amended in 2011)
Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No. 51
October 29, 2011
(Adopted at the 3rd session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress on June 28, 2003, and issued under the Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.4; and amended in accordance with the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Law of the People's Republic of China on Resident Identity Cards adopted at the 23rd session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress on October 29, 2011)
Table of Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Application and Issuance
Chapter III Use and Examination
Chapter IV Legal Responsibility
Chapter V Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is enacted for the purposes of proving the identities of the citizens residing within the territory of the People's Republic of China, safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests, facilitating their social activities and maintaining public order.
Article 2 Any Chinese citizen who has reached the age of 16 and who resides within the territory of the People's Republic of China shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Law, apply for the resident identity card; and any Chinese citizen under the age of 16 may, in accordance with the provisions of this Law, apply for resident identity card.
Article 3 The items to be registered in a resident identity card cover the name, sex, nationality, date of birth, address of permanent residence, citizen's identity number, the bearer's photograph, fingerprint information, term of validity of the card and the issuing authority.
The citizen's identity number is the sole and inalterable permanent identity code of a citizen, which is designed by the public security organ according to the national standard for citizens' identity numbers.
A citizen shall provide his or her fingerprint information when applying for obtaining, changing or replacing the resident identity card.
Article 4 Standard Chinese characters and numerals and symbols conforming to national standards shall be used in filling out a resident identity card.
With respect to the items in the resident identity card to be registered in Chinese, the authority of autonomy in a national autonomous area may, in light of the actual conditions of the area, decide to use at the same time the written language of the nationality enjoying regional autonomy or the written language that is commonly used locally.
Article 5 The terms of validity of resident identity cards for citizens at or over the age of 16 shall be 10 years, 20 years, or permanent. To citizens between the age of 16 and 25, shall be issued resident identity cards valid for 10 years; to those between the age of 26 and 45, shall be issued resident identity cards valid for 20 years; and to those at or over the age of 46, shall be issued resident identity cards valid permanently.
Where a citizen under the age of 16 voluntarily applies for the resident identity card, a card valid for five years shall be issued to him.
Article 6 The resident identity card shall be designed by the department for public security under the State Council.
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