Mobile & Landline users in China must register

A new policy requiring all landline and mobile phone users to give their real names went into effect today(Sunday) in China.

A new policy requiring all landline and mobile phone users to give their real names went into effect on September 1, 2013 in China. Authorities say the regulations aim to reduce telecom spam and fraud, and they are much stricter than previous regulations. The impact is being felt by service providers to newsstands.

The regulations require new landline and mobile users to provide real-name identification when they sign up.

Telecom operators who do not comply with the regulations or fail to cooperate with inspections face penalties up to 30,000 yuan for each offense.

The same poliscy applies to purchases of wireless network cards.

Du Yonghong, Deputy Director, Market Division, China Unicom, said, "ChinaUnicom will set a higher threshold for our agents. The new agents are subject to stricter regulations which also includes clauses on real name registration and information protection. Those who break the rules face punishment and will no longer be able to run the services. "

China's three telecom service providers said they have already asked for real names since a similiar policy was released in 2010. But the current policy seems to be much stricter.

Key words
实名制shí míng zhì：real-name registration system
登记dēng jì：register (one's name)
严格yán gé：strict