Apparently, China's entry into the World Trade Organization won't only help goods and services enter and leave the country, it will help people too, thanks to a series of new policies that make getting and renewing a passport much easier.

The new system, which will be run on a trial basis in Shanghai and Guangdong Province's Zhuhai and Shunde cities, means applicants will no longer need their employers' permission, or a letter of invitation from abroad to get a passport.

When new regulations go into effect in six months, citizens in Shanghai will be able to apply for a passport by taking their identification card and residence registration form to one of four selected post offices in town, ending a complex system that made getting a passport a bureaucratic nightmare.

Shanghai local officials are currently setting up the infrastructure to make the new system work, tying together the city's three population databases and linking them to the relevant post offices.

Police said the change will allow them to produce 1 million passports a year, up from the current level of 400,000.

People looking to renew outdated passports will also have an easier time.

"Those people can go to the four trial postal offices to get their passports renewed," said Ma Zhendong, director of Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration Office.

In the future, residents will be allowed to apply for passports online, police say.

(eastday.com December 13, 2001)