Rumour! Wechat Can Replace Passport?

GuideinChina

Quality content daily for China expats

Follow

Recently, a foreign media source reported that Wechat is now able to replace passports, which would make it much easier for expats to land in and depart from China. There is no official news so far to prove that news is true, but it could be an exciting development if it is. 

It is said that passports can be replaced by Wechat, so that expats can pass China’s customs faster and more easily. 

From my point of view, suppose that WeChat wants to launch a plan to replace passports, what they have to do? First of all, they have to come to agreements with each country's government on border control. This goes beyond the company's duty, but also concerns about country's relationships with one another. Secondly, WeChat would have to expand hugely, as not every countries' people know Chinese or English, so this app has to be developed with many more languages. Last but not least, passports contain a lot of personal information, so WeChat has to enhance its safety to protect such personal details. A new system would have to be connected with the world's population monitoring systems, so the passport scanning machines could identify criminals, escaped prisoners, and fugitives.

Whilst this is still just hypothetical thinking, Tencent did release news that they are looking at using WeChat to replace the Hong Kong-Macau laissez-passer. But Tencent is still negotiating with Hong Kong's Security Bureau and Immigration Department :

(Above news shows that Tencent now is seeking Hongkong's permit for allowing WeChat to add a cross-border passport. )

The border between these two provinces is the busiest line, crossed by more than 230 million travelers in 2016, government data shows.

Tencent tested the “Scanning WeChat Borderline” program. If the program is approved, people will eventually no longer need to bring travel documents with them.

As early as September 2016, Tencent announced the first inter-provincial renewal service for Hong Kong and Macau Passes with Postal Express. The first service areas include Guangdong, Chongqing, Hefei, Anhui, Henan, Shenyang, and Dalian.

In September last year, this service was used to access the Hong Kong and Macau Pass. With the Hong Kong-Macao Pass, you can not only check the expiry date, but you can also use the online renewal function.

So for now, it doesn’t seem like WeChat will be taking over passport control for expats, but it is a currently a plan focusing on those who own the Hong Kong-Macau laissez-passer, who could use Wechat to pass into HK or Macau in the future.

WeChat can be used in many areas - it previously partnered with the Chinese government to bring us convenient features such as divorce registration via app, scan to translate terms in daily life, online selling, and ticket ordering services. Tencent is also running a pilot plan for Guangdong residents to link ID cards and drivers licenses with their WeChat accounts.

What other functions are you looking to be added on WeChat? Let's have a look at our previous articles for a rundown of what WeChat can already do.

Source: Reuters

What is your opinion? 

Let us know! Comment below (click "写留言" at the bottom of the page)!

And don't forget to share this article with friends by pressing "..." in the top right corner.

Editor's Pick

Follow us to receive daily updates with info on China and our newest positions!