On September 26, the awarding ceremony of the 40th National Stamp Popularity Poll was held in Dunhuang, Gansu. In order to commemorate the 40th National Stamp Popularity Poll, China Post has specially produced a souvenir sheet. The souvenir sheet is embedded with an NFC chip. With NFC technology and the NFC function on the mobile phone, data stored on the chip can be read through China Post’s app. It is China’s first NFC chip stamp and also the world’s first stamp that realizes chip reading and writing.

NFC, namely “near field communication”, is a kind of short-range and high-frequency wireless communication technology. It allows non-contact, short-range data transmission and data exchange between electronic devices. It has the characteristics of short transmission distance, fast speed and low power consumption. NFC technology has been widely used in many fields, such as commodity anti-counterfeiting, electronic price tags in new retail, smart dinner plates and so on. The combination of NFC technology and traditional stamps integrates knowledge, fun and interactivity, and will bring a new interactive experience for stamp collectors. 

The souvenir sheet has an ultra-thin embedded 120um chip, onto which data are written with high-level encryption function. Thus it can effectively prevent malicious unlocking and ensure the security of information storage. Installing the China Post’s app, consumers can read the unique chip ID, the serial number of the souvenir sheet, and view the H5 webpage of the best-selected national stamps when they place a NFC-supported mobile phone close to the number “40” on the souvenir sheet. This improves consumers’ experience of traditional stamps and increases the convenience of reading the electronic information of stamps. The embedded chip can also record the behavior of information reading. Through data analysis, it can realize the functions of consumer analysis, cloud marketing, anti-counterfeiting traceability and electronic anti-counterfeiting, which lays the foundation for the launch of blockchain stamps.

Organically combining the Internet, cutting-edge technologies with traditional stamps, the newly issued souvenir sheet not only reflects the advantages of high-end anti-counterfeiting technologies, but also meets the needs of anti-counterfeiting traceability, the application of information technology and other aspects. It is a major innovation in China Post’s stamp issuance and also in the forefront of the world’s stamp issuance and printing.