A new nationwide policy will require mobile phone users who buy prepaid SIM cards to use their official identity cards and register with their real names from today.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has been pushing for the move for five years. It said the new move would curb fraud.
However, activists and online users are worried the new move, which coincided with the tightening of control over the internet - including a ban on individuals owning website domains and the closure of popular online communities - is aimed at curbing the flow of information and dissident views.
Mobile users who already have prepaid SIM cards won't have to register immediately, but they will have to provide their real names and ID card numbers within the next three years, according to the new policy effective today.
They will be encouraged to go to one of three telecommunications service provider (TSP) offices with their ID cards or call a customer service number and, in exchange, they will receive a benefit such as a fee waiver, according to The Beijing News.
Customer service employees for the three TSPs - China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom - said they had not yet been notified about the incentive to register. However, unregistered SIM cards reportedly won't be revoked.