Since May 6, the National Immigration Administration has launched a pilot program for online renewal and replacement of passports and travel permits in 20 cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Shenyang, Harbin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Hefei, Xiamen, Jinan, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Chongqing, Chengdu, Kunming and Xi’an. Residents (excluding national civil servants and active-duty military personnel) over the age of 16 and with household registration in the pilot cities can submit applications through the Government Service Platform of the National Immigration Administration to renew or replace their ordinary passports, travel permits to and from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. China Post has integrated its EMS service into the business process, and will get the passports and travel permits applied online delivered to the appointed addresses, thus providing safe delivery service for these documents and assisting in the smooth implementation of the passport and travel permit online service.

Earlier this year, seizing the opportunity of the new policy of online renewal and replacement service of passports and travel permits, the headquarters of China Post Group Parcel, Express and Logistics Business Unit joined hands with the National Immigration Administration to establish a dedicated task force, and worked with a research institute under the National Immigration Administration through online and offline communication on system connection solutions and technical resources. Within three days, they completed interface development, and achieved overall data connectivity. The Parcel, Express and Logistics Business Unit and the postal branches in pilot provinces (municipalities) worked together to sort out the business processes and develop solutions for each of the 20 cities. By the end of April, they had succeeded in testing all processes and launching the new business. As of May 13, the first batch of passports and travel permits applied online had all been delivered successfully in the 20 pilot cities. Up to then, the total number of applications in the three pilot cities in Guangdong had exceeded 4,000, and that in Shanghai 1,600.