Real-name registration for express deliveries

China will explore the implementation of a real-name registration policy in the express delivery industry for security reasons, the State Post Bureau (SPB) announced on Monday.

The announcement comes after parcels tainted with toxic chemicals killed a man in East China's Shandong province and poisoned seven others in December.

The prospective policy might ask senders to provide their real name, address and ID card number, the SPB stated during a national postal service conference on Monday.

The bureau will also enhance parcel inspection procedures to ensure the liabilities of the senders and express companies, China Central Television reported.

The contamination accident in Shandong occurred after a package containing methyl fluoroacetate leaked as workers offloaded the cargo, according to the provincial post bureau. A chemical plant in Hubei Province that sent the parcel claimed that it was harmless and reportedly had delivered such samples over 20 times.

However, the policy triggered wide public concern over the safety of personal information. "We have already given away our phone number that led to junk messages. Identity information might only be worse," said a Beijing resident, surnamed Shen, who often buys cosmetics online.

Zhu Hong, an associate professor at the Ningbo Institute of Technology under Zhejiang University, questioned whether the system would effectively hold back packages containing illegal or hazardous goods.

"We can trace back to the senders now with phone numbers. Registering ID cards might only speed up the process a bit. Besides, not every package is checked before delivery as stipulated," Zhu said.

He noted that more attention should be put on small-sized companies, which have more administrative loopholes and fewer liabilities.

Several cities have experimented with real-name registration, including Shaoxing in Zhejiang province and Zhuhai in Guangdong province.

Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department previously explained that couriers only scan people's ID cards with a device, with the information then being directly transferred to the police information platform. Couriers have no access to the information, reported China National Radio.

An employee surnamed Chen with the public relations department of SF Express told the Global Times that the policy had little impact on their business based on experiences in Shaoxing for three years.

China had about 200 million people who regularly shopped online by the end of 2012. There are currently 8,000 registered express companies across the country, reported the Xinhua News Agency.

Statistics from the SPB state that China's express delivery volume ranked second in the world in 2013 after the US, with 9.2 billion deliveries made last year. The number was up 60 percent year on year. Annual revenue of express deliveries stood at 143 billion yuan ($23.63 billion) in 2013.