Residents can apply for passports with ID cards only

The city of Zhuhai in Guangdong province has taken the lead on the mainland to allow its permanent residents to apply for passports and other travel documents by using only their identity cards starting Wednesday.

According to a press release from the Zhuhai Bureau of Public Security, starting on Wednesday, locals who have a Zhuhai hukou, or household registration, will not have to show their residence booklets and fill in any form, as they did previously, when they go to the city's counters of the exit and entry department to apply for their passports and other travel documents.

"Simplifying the application procedure can help residents save time and further raise the efficiency of the exit and entry department," said Sha Weichun, who is with the exit and entry department of Zhuhai's Bureau of Public Security.

The Zhuhai special economic zone, which borders the Macao special administrative region, has become the first on the mainland to allow locals to show only their identity card to apply for passports and other travel documents.

Locals used to have to show their residence booklets and identity cards and fill in several forms before their applications were accepted.

Many had to visit the exit and entry department several times if they failed or forgot to bring all the materials to the counters of the exit and entry department.