China's first electronic social security card is issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, April, 22, 2018. (Photo/Video screenshot from China News Service)
(ECNS) -- The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security issued China's first electronic social security card on Sunday to a woman surnamed Liu from Qingdao, Shandong Province, during the first Digital China Summit in Fuzhou, indicating that social security cards have connected online and offline functions.
Each electronic social security card corresponds with an actual social security card, and can be used across the whole country, according to an official from the information center of the ministry.
Electronic social security cards can provide a range of services, including acting as an official form of ID and information record and can be used in information queries and medical insurance settlements and payments, the information center said.
Electronic social security cards have built a trusted connection between people and the Internet by introducing several Internet security technologies such as digital certification, biometric-features recognition and artificial intelligence.
Social security card holders will be able to receive an electronic social security card at any time from authorized apps, and the service will be piloted in Qingdao and Fuzhou in Fujian province.
Statistics data from the first three months of the year have shown that China has 1.12 billion social security card holders, or 80.6 percent of the population. Social security cards have uses across a variety of sectors including medical insurance settlements and employment services. Their use will be expanded to other public service fields such as providing residential health services and issuing financial subsidies.
