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China’s social security system turns to WeChat for electronic ID

Government trials in 26 cities will have Tencent’s WeChat replace traditional state-issued social security cards with digital version tied to users’ accounts

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WeChat, the popular mobile messaging, social media and payments platform operated by Tencent Holdings, is now being adapted by the Chinese government as an electronic social security card for its users on the mainland. Photo: Agence France-Presse
Celia Chenin Shenzhen

WeChat, the popular mobile messaging, social media and payments platform run by Tencent Holdings, is poised to become further entrenched in everyday life in China under a new programme that adapts it as a user’s electronic social security card.

China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, backed by Hong Kong-listed Tencent, has started to roll out the project in 26 cities, including the southern coastal city of Shenzhen and Xi’an in the country’s northwest, according to a report on Friday by the state-run People’s Daily.

The WeChat-based electronic social security cards will enable users to provide their identification, status, payment records and other relevant information to official online inquiries about benefits and insurance coverage.

China’s social security system represents the most important public sector scheme for workers as it covers five insurance categories: pension, medical, unemployment, maternity and work-related injury.

Using WeChat as an electronic repository for all social security data in China represents another example of how the country’s hi-tech giants are gaining wider access to people’s private information through various digital services.

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